The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

AGRICULTURE and Marine Resources Minister Jomo Campbell has defended the basis on which animal control offences are pursued amid controversy over the prosecution of a 73-year-old woman whose family says dementia caused her to leave open the gate through which her son’s dog escaped and mauled a three-year-old girl.

Mr Campbell declined on Friday to address the mental state of Rachel Morley, who was taken into police custody twice and faces charges in connection with the attack on three-year-old Skyla. He said animal control offences are largely matters of strict liability and that the criminal case is now in the hands of police.

“Our offenses are more or less strict liability offenses,” he said, “which simply means that either you're doing it or you're not doing it. Either your dog is on a leash or it's not on a leash. Either your dog escaped from a private residence into a public domain or it didn't.”

Ms Morley’s family has claimed that dementia caused her to leave the gate open and has accused police of questioning her despite knowing she was not mentally coherent.

Her son, who owns the dog, has also turned himself in to police.

Mr Campbell said police investigations differ from those conducted by the Animal Control Unit and declined to comment on Ms Morley’s mental condition.

Asked whether an entire household could be held responsible when a dog escapes from a property, he said the circumstances and evidence in each case must be considered individually.

Mr Campbell said people sometimes appear before the courts repeatedly for the same type of offence, but the facts and evidence can differ from case to case. He said it would be wise to allow the evidence in Ms Morley’s case to play out in court.

Skyla’s mother, Bentika Lightbourne, has meanwhile rejected the family’s portrayal of Ms Morley’s mental state at the time of the attack.

Ms Lightbourne said she believed the woman was in her right mind that day and recalled her calling out to Skyla as mother and daughter walked past the house.

Skyla remains traumatised and suffers nightmares following the attack, according to her mother.

She previously told The Tribune that she fought the dog with her bare hands to save her daughter.