A woman whose two vicious XL thugs attacked a young mother, tearing chunks out of her arm, cried as she was shown images of the horrific attack – before being jailed.

Kelis Smith left three dogs she owned in a communal garden in the flats where she lived. One returned but two others escaped through a gate the 24-year-old knew was faulty, a court heard.

The two dogs – Kodak, a Bully XL and Love, an XLB cross – wandered onto a nearby street and pounced on victim Katie Elliot – causing her life-changing injuries.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Ms Elliot thought she was “going to die” during the attack, which was caught on CCTV.

During today’s hearing, Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of being in charge of an out-of-control dangerous dog causing injury.

Kelis Smith (pictured) left three dogs she owned in a communal garden in the flats where she lived. One returned but two others escaped through a gate the 24-year-old knew was faulty, a court heard.

A Bully XL dog (stock image). The two dogs – Kodak, an XL Bully and Love, an XLB cross – wandered onto a nearby street and pounced on victim Katie Elliot – causing her life-changing injuries.

The court heard the incident happened on the evening of May 15 last year, close to Smith’s flat in St Helens, Merseyside.

CCTV footage from a nearby garden at 10.55pm showed the two dogs approaching Miss Elliot, 22, and attacking her. The mother of three was dragged to the ground where she was shaken, dragged and bitten several times.

Prosecutor Cecilia Pritchard told how locals heard her screams and tried to help free her from the dogs by hitting the animals with sticks.

Mrs Pritchard said: “Local residents were alerted to the incident as they could hear her screaming for help and some of them came out.

“Despite numerous attempts to get the dogs out, it had no real effect.

“What some people said … is that they tried to hit the dogs repeatedly with sticks – some of them broke.

“Obviously he didn’t get the dogs – especially the bigger dog, Kodak – to give up, and that dog was still trying to drag the victim along the ground even after these people intervened.

“One of the males said that when he tried to intervene, the dog also tried to bite him. Another said that despite hitting Kodak as hard as he could with the stick, this had very little effect and the dog continued to shake and drag the victim.

Smith cried prosecuting as video footage showed the group of people trying in vain to stop the attack on Ms Elliot – with one person even driving the car at the dogs in the hope of scaring them off.

Ms Elliot suffered serious injuries to her shoulder, chest and upper limbs, including a “massive laceration” to her right arm, which was bitten to the bone. He required several skin graft operations and the court heard he continued to suffer pain and mobility problems more than a year later.

The attack lasted about five minutes, and Miss Elliot was taken to a resident’s house, while Kodak was returned to Smith, who had gone out to look for the dogs.

The other dog, Love, was later found by police and Smith was later arrested.

Ms Pritchard told how, when interviewed by police, she said “none of the dogs were previously aggressive – although none had attended training classes”.

She added: “Kodak is an XL Bully and Love is the offspring of Kodak and the other dog, Daisy.”

Paul Davidson, defending, said: “The defendant made a full and honest admission and was extremely remorseful for what had happened. She tells me that it was made clear from the start that the injuries were such that she could face a prison sentence. Having this hanging over her head for a year was very upsetting for her.

‘The defendant returned home from work to let the dogs out. It was late at night. Earlier that day she had discovered that the gate to the communal garden was broken and had bought a lock. She hadn’t put that lock on the gate yet. The dogs had never shown any aggression before. The neighbors never complained.

“She is extremely remorseful and full of tears. She said “If I had known my dogs were hurting someone, I would have stopped them.”

“Clearly, given the nature of the offences, the dogs will be destroyed. She admits that destroying the dogs is partly her decision and is not opposed.

But Smith made a request to be able to continue keeping the dogs as pets.

Liverpool Crown Court, where Smith was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Judge Ian Harris said: “Your conduct in controlling the dogs was criminally irresponsible.”

Her lawyer said: “Despite the nature of the offence, the defendant is asking the court to find that he is a fit and proper person (to have custody of a dog). There is another dog, Daisy, who was not involved. This is also the defendant’s dog and she would like to keep that dog and other dogs in the future.

Judge Ian Harris said: “This was a vicious attack. The victim’s screams were heard loudly by her sister, who she was talking to on her mobile phone just before the attack. On the CCTV you can distinctly hear Miss Elliot’s screams. She said she thought she was going to die.

Sentencing Smith to 12 months in prison, he said: “Your conduct, in terms of controlling the dogs, was criminally irresponsible. You took no steps to ensure they were under control and they caused the victim terrible, life-long effects.

Smith, who appeared in court in a large black tracksuit top, showed no emotion as she was jailed – but became visibly upset when the judge added that the dogs, Kodak and Love, would be destroyed. He was also banned from owning dogs for 24 months.