“I don’t understand why this has happened to me. I feel I have lost trust in people and the owner did not care”
10:46, 02 Aug 2025Updated 10:51, 02 Aug 2025
A destruction order was made for Stella the American bulldog(Image: Facebook)
A nan who was attacked by a vicious dog described the moment she broke down in tears as she said: “I think it could have killed me”. Jacqueline Bond was among three people mauled by an American bulldog belonging to Geraldine Knibb within a two-month period.
The first reported incident occurred on November 10 last year, when victim Gediminas Valkiunas was walking to the shops in Bootle. He passed by a block of flats, where he noticed a man he knew standing in the garden. But when he approached his friend, Knibb’s dog, called Stella, bolted out of the flat and attacked him.
He was bitten on the left calf and dragged to the ground, suffering bite wounds and cuts to his face and hands, which required hospital treatment.
The following day, November 11, Stella attacked again, biting Jacqueline Bond on the hand and wrist as she visited Knibb in her home.
The final attack occurred on January 10 this year, when ambulance driver William McVeigh attended the flat block to help a patient, who was on crutches. When the front door was opened, Stella ran out and bit him on the arm, causing injuries which required surgery to fix.
In a statement read out in Liverpool Crown Court on July 29, Ms Bond said: “The attack on me has completely destroyed me and my trust in any dog I see. If I’m walking in public and see a dog, I’m still completely distressed by what happened and instinctively put my left hand inside my coat to protect it. I feel terrified of dogs that are not on a lead.
“Once the incident happened, I was in a 72-hour state of shock and I remember snapping out of it. I broke down next to my daughter, crying.”
She said the bite wound to her left hand meant she now had to wear a special glove, as she still suffered from pain and lack of proper function. She said:” I’m devastated that I can no longer bath my grandson as this is something I loved to do.
“Housework is now an unbearable task. It’s more difficult now. I can’t open tins. These may seem like trivial things, but to me it’s life changing.
“I don’t understand why this has happened to me. I feel I have lost trust in people and the owner (of Stella) did not care. If the men at the address had not intervened I think it could have killed me, and I do not say that lightly.”
Mr Valkiunas said: “This incident has made me feel too scared to go outside so I spent more time indoors, because Im worried of what happened. My scars are still visible and are a reminder of what happened. Nobody should have to put up with what I did. I feel afraid to go outdoors. Dogs make me anxious.”
Knibb, of St Edmond’s Road in Bootle, pleaded guilty to three counts of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, causing injury.
Geraldine Knibb, of St Edmond’s Road in Bootle(Image: Merseyside Police)
She appeared in court via a video link from HMP Styal, as the court heard the 58-year-old had been given a seven-year prison sentence for being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin in April this year.
Judge David Potter said: He said: “You owned and controlled an American bulldog, Stella, who, in 2024 and 2025, caused three sets of injuries to three different people. It would have been abundantly clear to you after the first incident that she was a dog that was liable, at a moment’s notice, to go for and attack people that she didn’t know.
The first incident involved Gediminas Valkiunas, who was walking to the shops when he decided to walk towards a person he knew. Stella ran from your flat; he tried to run and hide, he was pursued by Stella and then attacked. He was bitten to the calf, he fell to the floor, he understandably thought he was going to be killed.
“As it turned out, Mr Valkiunas attended hospital and he was discharged having received injections and antibiotics.
“It’s quite understandable in this case that Mr Valkiunas felt too scared at times to go outside, and spent more time indoors than he previously did. It’s quite understandable that Mr Valkiunas is wary of dogs and is on edge when he sees a dog not on its lead.
“Later Jacqueline Bond, known to you, attended at your flat. When she stood up, she dropped a tissue on the floor, and when she went to retrieve it, Stella ran over and bit her to the left hand, latched on and shook her.
“The dog had to be kicked by others to loose its grip on Ms Bond. The dog came back and bit her again to the wrist.
“This incident caused Ms Bond significant issues. It has destroyed her trust in any dog and upon seeing a dog she is traumatised. The grief and shock dissipated after only 72 hours, and then she broke down.
“She now wears a special glove. She’s devastated as no longer is she able to bathe her grandson. Her circumstances are exacerbated by the trauma she sustained when your dog hit her.
“Not withstanding that, that the dog had been dangerously out of control on two occasions. You made no proper provisions for it to be held securely, and when, on January 25, Mr McVeigh attended as an ambulance driver, the dog ran and came towards him, barking, and then latched onto his hand, biting him.
“He fought the dog off, ran back to the ambulance and the police were called. I have seen photographs of the injuries. They are truly awful. He had to have surgery to fix and wash the wounds and I’m quite satisfied that he sustained a very nasty injury on that day.”
Knibb was sentenced to eight months in prison for Stella’s attacks on Mr Valkiunas and Ms Bond, to run concurrently. She was sentenced to 12 months for the dog’s attack on Ms McVeigh, to be served consecutively to the existing seven-year sentence for drugs.
The judge also made a destruction order for Stella to be put down, as he said there had been “no evidence supplied” to oppose it.