Dog attack: Bay of Plenty couple will defend charge

Richard Malkin (left) and his partner Sheree Kearney appear in the Tauranga District Court. Photo / Sandra Conchie

Two Bay of Plenty dog breeders have pleaded not guilty to a charge that a dog they owned attacked and seriously injured a child visiting their property.

The breeders, Whakamārama couple Richard Malkin and Sheree Kearney, appeared in the Tauranga District Court on Tuesday for a case review hearing.

Through their legal counsel, the couple confirmed their intention to defend a joint charge of being the owners of a dog that attacked the child and caused serious injury on December 2, 2022.

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council is prosecuting the couple, and the council’s summary of facts, which lays out what it alleges happened, was released to the Bay of Plenty Times with Judge David Cameron’s permission.

The summary alleged Kearney was the registered owner of a dog and one other, and that she and her partner, Malkin, shared ownership of the dogs. The couple bred the two dogs to sell their puppies.

The summary said that on December 2, the child, her mother and two other relatives — all of whom cannot be named for legal reasons — visited the defendants’ Whakamārama Rd address intending to pick a puppy they had arranged to buy.

Before driving into the property, they contacted the couple as instructed and, according to the defendants, the two adult dogs were then confined to the house, the summary said.

The mother was on the phone arranging payment and the child was running around with the puppies when Malkin saw the two adult dogs coming out of the house.

The council alleged one of them walked towards the child, launched towards her face, knocked her to the ground and began to bite the back of her legs.

The mother saw the dog had the girl’s hand in its mouth and tried to “prise open” its jaws to free her.

The child was rushed to Tauranga Hospital, treated for multiple bite wounds and released the next day.

The council’s lawyer, Tim Conder, told the judge he and the defence lawyers, Rachael Adams and Mike Douglas, were seeking more time to reach an agreement over some facts of the prosecution to reduce the length of the judge-alone trial.

Judge Cameron granted the request and bailed the defendants.

A further case review hearing will be held in two weeks, with a potential trial date in October.

The judge also granted permission for the Bay of Plenty Times to take a photograph of the couple, saying this was a matter of “public interest”. Douglas opposed the application and Malkin also raised his hand and objected, saying it would be unfair.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.