'XL bully killed my dad but owner hasn't apologised'

The daughter of a man who was fatally mauled by an XL bully described the ordeal as a "nightmare" and said a lack of apology from the pet's owner was "very hard to understand".

Sean Garner, 31, was jailed for 12 years earlier after his dog attacked neighbour John McColl in Warrington in February 2025.

The 84-year-old suffered catastrophic injuries and died a month later.

His daughter Joanne Percival said that while she realised Garner, who was not present during the attack, "didn't want it to happen", she struggled with the "lies" he made as part of his defence.

Det Insp Simon Mills, from Cheshire Police, said it "was clear the dog was obviously not secured" despite Garner's claims that it had been.

He said he had "lied throughout" and "stayed away from police for two days knowing that we were actively looking for him".

Joanne added: "He's shown no remorse in court. He has no empathy, not even an apology. He's only felt sorry for himself."

She said some relatives of Garner, who was convicted for owning a dog that caused injury while dangerously out of control, had also posted "vile comments all over social media".

"If at the beginning the family turned around and said they were devastated about what happened, they were sorry, we may have been able to handle it a little bit better," she said.

"But instead all they've done is blame, lie, blame anybody, blame us, blame my dad, blame the police, blamed everybody apart from themselves.

"And that is very, very hard. It's very hard to understand how people can be like that."

Garner admitted owning both the dog, called Toretto, and another XL bully without the required exemption certificates, which is a crime in England and Wales.

The court also heard he had not walked Toretto - which had hardly any food in its stomach at the time of the attack - since he had moved to the area with his children and partner three weeks before.

CCTV footage also showed previous instances of both dogs "running in the street so they could have attacked other people", Det Insp Mills added.

According to the law, it is illegal to abandon any XL Bully dog or let it stray.

Prosecutors said Toretto had been left on the patio on the day of the attack and was only secured by a gate with a latch.

McColl had later wandered on to Garner's driveway on the way home from the pub in the early evening when the dog attacked.

"That could have been a child going up the drive to get a ball," the detective continued.

"It could have been a delivery driver who's going into the yard."

Neighbours tried to ward the dog off with a walking stick and DIY tools.

However, Toretto "stood guard" so people could not reach the victim before firearms officer eventually arrived, Det Insp Mills said.

Toretto had to be shot 10 times by before the 84-year-old could receive help.

Joanne said younger relatives were prevented from seeing her father in hospital as it would have been "too traumatising", while jurors were excused from jury service for 10 years after hearing the nature of the evidence.

She described her father as an "independent, funny, strong, hardworking, good family man".

"When we've lost relatives we've always had an open coffin, we've always gone to pay our respects, we've always spent the night [before the funeral] with them," Joanne said.

"But we couldn't do that with my dad."

She described the experience as "nightmare" and wants dog owners to treat their pets as "part of your family".

"We're not against dogs. We're dog owners ourselves. There are laws out there. If they loved their dogs, they would follow the law," she said.

Det Insp Mills said: "People need to be mindful of the damage and pain and suffering these dogs can cause. If people have concerns, tell us."

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