A Leicestershire couple whose XL bully injured two of their neighbours and savaged a French bulldog have been sentenced. Marekco Ratteray and Keeryan Bott had allowed their pet, Cookie, to

escape from their home in John Wesley Close, Mountsorrel, and it barged into the home of a woman living opposite. CCTV showed the woman's terrified young son running out of the house

while the woman tried to stop Cookie - which should have only been out while muzzled and on a lead due to its breed - savaged her pet French bulldog, Darcy. As the woman held Darcy above her

head, trying to keep her pet safe, Cookie latched onto her left tricep, causing an injury. That caused her to drop Darcy, who was then grabbed by Cookie. A male neighbour rushed in to help

14-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and 200 hours of unpaid work. They will also have to pay £187 each in victim surcharges. Ratteray, who was Cookie's owner, was banned

from keeping dogs or allowing any dogs of any kind into his home for the next five years. Cookie, for whom the couple had an exemption certificate, has since been put down. On the day of the

incident, Thursday, February 15, the couple claimed Cookie was in their secure back garden but had jumped from the garden into their house through an open window before charging out of the

front door while Ratteray was putting the bins out. In an earlier hearing, at Leicester Magistrates' Court in November, prosecutor Tejal Muru described what the female victim saw after

Cookie escaped. At the time, the woman was in her garden with Darcy. Ms Muru said: "She saw the XL bully approaching with no lead and no muzzle and ran over to her dog. She took her dog

and went to the house and the XL bully pushed against the door and managed to get in. "Her two children - a nine year old and a seven year old - were in the house. She lifted her dog

up above her head to protect it and the defendant's dog latched onto her left tricep." Ms Muru said Ratteray, 41, who also lives at an address in Oxford Street, Leicester city

centre, had bought Cookie for Bott, 34, but he was the registered owner of the dog. Jabeen Naru, representing both Ratteray and Bott at the earlier hearing, told the magistrates that the

couple had properly obtained an exemption certificate for Cookie, who was a "family pet". She said: "Their children were devastated when the dog was destroyed. "Mr

Ratteray immediately did follow the dog. He did everything he could to bring his dog under control." Ratteray and Bott were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court, sitting at the

magistrates' court.