We specialise in helping people make a police dog bite claim. Here is an outline of the basic principles:
Dogs are used by the police to support officers and assist in the apprehension of suspected offenders, amongst other things. However, there are occasions when individuals are subjected to unjustifiable bites from police dogs, either as a suspected offender or as an innocent bystander.
Suspected offenders
While it may be difficult to claim compensation if you have not followed orders from the police, our specialist team of lawyers can explore the circumstances of a police dog attack. They will consider whether:
- the police should have done more to prevent the dog from attacking;
- the officer was negligent in releasing the dog at a time they did so; and
- the officer failed to warn the individual of their intentions to release the dog.
Our team will also review the dog and its handler’s previous records to ascertain if there have been similar incidents in the past. If this is the case then it can be alleged that a further incident was likely to occur.
Bystanders
We have assisted many people who were innocent bystanders and of no interest to the police, but were nevertheless bitten by a police dog. One previous client of ours assisted the police in apprehending an offender after witnessing a serious crime being committed. However, he was then rewarded for his selfless actions by being bitten by a police dog, causing injury to his leg. Another client was the victim of a crime but when the police arrived, both the officer and his dog mistook the victim for being the offender. As a result, our client sustained a dog bite to his forearm. We also assisted in this case where a police dog mistakenly entered an innocent person’s home, biting a married couple.
Our team was successful in recovering compensation in all these cases.
Many of our clients suffer serious injuries after being bitten by a police dog, often requiring surgery, and are then left with permanent scarring and psychological effects. Furthermore, police dog attacks can result in time off work and therefore monetary loss.
Individuals who have been a victim of a police dog bite may be entitled to make a compensation claim against the police. If you would like to discuss claiming compensation from the police on a No Win – No Fee basis, then call our team of specialist lawyers. We will assess your case completely free of charge, and if we feel we can assist then we will provide you with full details of our popular No Win – No Fee service.