Dog owner charged with allowing pet to maul five police officers during raid which went horrifically wrong

Pierre Robinson, 25, will appear in court today accused of 'allowing the dog to be dangerously out of control'

He is also accused of kidnapping and GBH with intent, which is why police were looking for him

Blood-stained pavement marks the spot where the officers were attacked

Armed officers forced to shoot four rounds before dog finally killed

Four of the officers are said to be in a serious but stable condition and one had minor injuries

The pitbull-type had attacked before, according to neighbours

Five police were admitted to hospital last night, but two have since been released

Neighbours revealed they had reported the animal, described as a brown dobermann/pitbull cross called Poison, to the council several times.
They said it was responsible for other attacks, including one in which a builder was pulled from his bicycle and mauled so badly ‘it looked like he was being eaten alive’.
The attack took place on a residential street in Stratford, east London, where patches of dried blood remain visible along a 30ft stretch of the road.
Witnesses said the dog ran free after a team searching for the man broke down the door of a terraced house.
Mobile phone footage taken by a passer-by shows the animal pouncing on one policeman and biting his arm.
The officer tries to fight the dog off by grabbing at its neck – but the animal is too strong.
At one point, it clamps its jaws so tightly around the man’s limb that it is lifted off the ground when he tries to shake it off.
A colleague is seen climbing on to a wall to escape the animal.

LOCALS WARNED OF DEVIL DOG

Residents in Albert Square, Newham, said the dog has attacked before - mauling a cyclist, last summer.
Pregnant Rehema Nyange said locals had repeatedly called Newham Council. But nothing was done.
‘When I saw it in the street, I would always run away. I was scared. There are people with children on this street and there's a school close by. It could easily have attacked anybody,' she said.
I'm glad it's finally gone.’
Speaking about the attack she witnessed last September the 30-year-old said: ‘It attacked a guy as he rode his bicycle to work. The dog was running around the street. Then it got the man's leg. It bit him so bad.
‘It must have took a chunk out of it as when the paramedics came they had to cut his trousers off to get to it. It was a big wound.
‘He was crying like a baby but people were too scared to go out and help him in case the dog turned on them.’
A Newham Council spokesman said: 'On 28 April 2011, the council investigated a complaint that a dog had bitten a cyclist in Albert Square.
'On 6 May 2011, the council's animal welfare officers conducted an initial visit to the property but there was no response.
'This case was discussed by police and the council in June 2011.

'As this is now subject to a criminal investigation it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.'

The dog was finally cornered by a dozen officers who arrived from a nearby station armed with riot shields.

Colleagues from the Metropolitan Police’s CO19 armed unit then arrived and shot it.
Dennis Clarke, 71, said he called Newham Council three years ago to register his fears but was told officials could not do anything until the dog bit someone.

Describing the latest attack, he said: ‘The first I knew was when I heard someone yelling: “Help! Help!”

‘I came out my front door, and I could see the dog had the police officer’s leg and it wouldn’t let go. It was hanging off him.’

Student Gemma Smith, 27, added: ‘I woke up to screaming and I thought someone had been stabbed.’

She said officers told residents to go inside once they cornered the animal.
‘I heard gun shots. When I looked out of the window, the dog was shaking on the ground.’

A police source said four of the five officers suffered ‘life-changing injuries’, and that one may need to have one or more fingers amputated.

‘They have suffered some really nasty injuries; broken bones, gashes that will need dozens of stitches and even plastic surgery,’ he said.

‘The injuries are as bad as being shot. It has taken out huge chunks of flesh.’
All five were said to be in a stable condition at the Royal London Hospital last night.

The Met confirmed last night a 25-year-old man arrested at the scene was being questioned over the attack, who has now been named.

Newham Council confirmed it had investigated a complaint that the dog had attacked a cyclist last April, and said the case was discussed with police in June.

An inquiry is under way to establish why officers did not know the dog was in the property.