Father whose newborn was killed by his Chow-Chow-Alsatian is jailed

Father, 36, whose new-born son was killed by his ‘vicious’ and ‘dangerously out of control’ Chow-Chow-Alsatian called Teddy is jailed for four years

  • Elon Ellis-Joynes was attacked by family pet at home in South Yorkshire in 2020
  • One of the children found animal standing over the injured baby and growling 
  • Dog had bitten Elon’s older sibling in months before baby’s death, court heard 
  • Elon’s father Steven Joynes, 36, was today sentenced to four years in prison

A father whose newborn son was killed by his ‘vicious’ and ‘dangerously out of control’ Chow-Chow-Alsatian cross has been jailed for four years.

Elon Ellis-Joynes was 12 days old when he was attacked by the dog, called Teddy, at his home in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, on September 13, 2020.

A court heard that in the months before the baby’s death, the animal had bitten one of Elon’s older siblings and regularly escaped to get into neighbours’ gardens.

The family pet had been ‘banished to the back garden’ at the time of Elon’s death, but one of the children noticed he was missing that afternoon and went into the house to find him standing over the injured baby and growling.

In December last year, Elon’s father Steven Joynes, 36, pleaded guilty at Sheffield Crown Court to a charge of being the owner of a dog which caused death when dangerously out of control.

On Thursday he was sentenced to four years in prison at the same court.

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC said Elon’s death was ‘a tragedy waiting to happen’ and that Joynes ‘should never have kept this dog’.

Steven Joynes (pictured with Elon Ellis-Joynes’ mother Abigail Ellis), 36, was jailed for four years after his newborn son was killed by his ‘vicious’ Chow-Chow-Alsatian cross

Elon (pictured with his mother days before the tragedy) was 12 days old when he was attacked by the dog, called Teddy, at his home in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, on September 13, 2020

Elon’s mother Abigail Ellis, 28, was initially charged with the same offence, but prosecutors asked for a not guilty verdict to be entered in her case.

The court heard that Ms Ellis had three other children with a previous partner who died three years ago.

Richard Thyne, prosecuting, said she had started a relationship with Joynes, who moved into her home on Welfare Road, Woodlands, Doncaster, and brought with him a Chow Chow-Alsatian cross called Teddy.

He told the court Joynes had bought the dog in 2019 as a gift for his ex-partner’s daughter, but he accepted ownership of Teddy when ‘it became apparent they couldn’t cope’ with him.

Mr Thyne said the couple’s neighbours raised their garden fences in the months before Elon’s death, with the next door neighbour describing how Teddy would jump over the fence into his garden ‘sometimes several times a day,’ leaving them ‘uneasy and intimidated’.

Another neighbour said they had seen Joynes ‘kick and shout at the dog for getting out’ on a number of occasions, the court heard.

Mr Thyne said that in April 2020, five months before the fatal incident, Ms Ellis went to a GP with her son, who had a bite wound on his right thigh.

The doctor was told that the boy had been bitten by a stray dog, but he revealed in a police interview after Elon’s death that in fact it had been Teddy that bit him, the court heard.

Mr Thyne said: ‘He said his mum and stepdad were present when this happened, and Joynes had smacked Teddy as a result.

‘The prosecution say this is significant for two reasons. Firstly, Teddy had previously bitten one of the other children and, secondly, Steven Joynes was aware of that fact.’

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC said Elon’s death was ‘a tragedy waiting to happen’ and that Joynes ‘should never have kept this dog’ (family pet pictured above)

Mr Thyne said when the family returned home on the afternoon of Elon’s death, the newborn was pushed into the living room in his pram.

He told the court Ms Ellis went upstairs to use the toilet ‘urgently’ while Joynes played in the garden with the children.

Mr Thyne said that one of Ms Ellis’s sons noticed the dog was missing and went into the house to investigate.

The court heard the boy found Teddy standing growling over baby Elon, who was lying on the floor.

A post-mortem report found Elon died as a result of severe trauma to his chest and abdomen with injuries ‘typical of having been repeatedly bitten by a dog’. The court heard Ms Ellis made a ‘distressed’ 999 call and paramedics attended the house, finding Elon pale in colour and with puncture wounds to his torso.

He was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary but died that afternoon.

Mr Thyne told the court: ‘The defendant and Ms Ellis in interview said he had been left safely in his pram, but the prosecution case is that he must in fact have been placed on the sofa.’

He said the pathologist ‘would have expected to see head and neck injuries’ if the baby had been in his pram, and scientific evidence showed there was blood staining on the floor and sofa, but not in the pram.

A mourner places flowers on the gate of the family home in Doncaster in September last year

The court heard a dog behaviour expert’s conclusion was that the dog caused Elon’s injuries ‘while investigating what was, to the dog, a strange object’.

Ms Ellis had said in a police interview that Teddy ‘became excited when he first saw the baby’, Mr Thyne said.

Edward Moss, mitigating, said Joynes had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his son’s death and was having counselling.

He said: ‘What punishment could anyone give to this man that is greater than the punishment he has already been given, and will have for the rest of his life?’

The court heard the dog had been put down following the incident. 

Judge Richardson told the defendant: ‘You knew the dog was unmanageable and had vicious characteristics.

‘You had made no attempt to socialise the dog with children. All you did was kick and hit the dog, and put it outside.

‘You took no effective steps to protect any of the children, least of all your 12-day-old infant son.’

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Six South Allegheny Middle School students rushed to hospital after eating drug-laced edibles
Next post Stingrays and zebra mbuna 'can add and subtract just like humans'