Girl, 5, has face ‘ripped off’ by stranger’s dog on furniture shopping trip

A little girl has been left scarred for life after being savaged by a dog when her mum went to buy furniture advertised on Facebook.

Molly Beresford, five, needed 36 stitches after her face was ‘ripped off’ by a stranger’s dog, her parents said.

The Staffordshire Terrier cross pounced on Molly when she went with mum, Charmaine, and dad, Lee, to buy bunk beds from a seller’s home in Chipping Campden, the Cotswolds.

Both parents had no idea that a dog was in the house and inadvertently left their daughter unattended for a few minutes, which is when the dog attacked.

The schoolgirl has been left with a permanent scar which has attracted cruel bullying taunts, her parents said.

Charmaine said: ‘It was absolutely horrendous.

‘My daughter gets called “scar face”. She says “mummy am I still beautiful?”‘

Last month the dog’s owner, Juliet Marsh, was found guilty of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control at Cheltenham Magistrates Court.

At the time of the attack, Charmaine claims Marsh was reluctant to call for help.

She said: ‘Four or five times I asked her to phone the ambulance.

‘I had to scream at her. I wasn’t going to prosecute or anything like that.

‘But then the surgeon who treated Molly said “this is a dangerous dog, you need to prosecute”.’

The court allowed Marsh to keep the dog called Mylo provided it is fitted with a muzzle in a public place and is never left alone in the company of children under 17.

She said: ‘We were kind enough to let her keep the dog. I just want to make other people aware.

‘I have got two dogs and Molly is fine with them and with family members’ dogs but if we see strangers dogs out in public she’ll cling to me like a leech.

‘But other than that she is coping really well.

‘We are lucky because that dog could have taken her life that night. Even though she is scarred we are lucky.’