A DOG which attacked a young boy leaving him with facial injuries which required plastic surgery could be destroyed.

The youngster had been with his mother at Owen Jeacock’s house in Severn Road, Clacton, when he wandered outside and crawled underneath a table.

The dog – a Sher-Pei and Boxer cross called Gnashers – then left him with the injuries.

Jeacock admitted being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control at Colchester Magistrates’ Court, however, it was on the basis no-one knew how Gnashers had hurt the boy.

The boy has had to be admitted to Broomfield Hospital four times since the incident and has been left with scars across his face.

In a victim impact statement, his mother said: “He has been left afraid of familiar dogs and had to have time off school.

“His teachers have said he has become a lot more reserved and he is a lot more clingy towards me.

“He is terrified of going to the doctors and appointments cause him to panic.”

The court was shown a heartbreaking video of the inconsolable youngster during a hospital visit which was purely a routine appointment.

Ashley Petchey, prosecuting, said the Crown would be making an application to have the dog put down.

However, the court heard solicitors representing Jeacock had secured funding for a bite expert to examine the boy’s injuries and try to determine how he had been hurt.

The dog, who is nine-and-a-half, has no history of lashing out and was diagnosed with arthritis after the attack.

District judge Julie Cooper said the analysis might make a difference to the sentence and whether the dog would be destroyed.

She adjourned sentencing until early next year.

She said: “I would benefit from an expert looking at the injuries.

“This is obviously devastating to the little boy and he is clearly terrified of everything to do with the situation.”