A man who admitted owning what is believed to be a thug XL that injured an 11-year-old girl in Birmingham has been given a two-year suspended sentence.

Farhat Ajaz, 62, of Bordesley Close, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Birmingham Crown Court to three counts of keeping a dog which caused injury while it was dangerously loose from under control.

The girl suffered injuries to her shoulder and arm in September 2023 during an attack by the dog, named Tyson.

Two other men were injured while trying to intervene.

The court heard the dog was “likely to be an XL bully” and the attack was one of several across the country before the government announced plans to ban the breed.

During the hearing, the judge was told that Ajaz had also threatened to kill a former partner during a campaign of harassment.

The court heard he was on license for life at the time of the offenses after being jailed in 1979 and served 25 years before his release in 2004.

CCTV showing the dog attacking the girl was played in court. Other footage showed attacks on the men, Numaan Ahmed and Yousef Ahmadzai.

Judge Heidi Kubik KC said: “You were out on the street with the dog, even at that stage you were not in the best of health and frankly not in a condition to restrain the dog, which was not muzzled at that moment.

“He set out to attack three separate people, including an 11-year-old girl. It was a horrific attack. She was undoubtedly and rightly terrified.”

The judge said the “vile, threatening and abusive” harassment of a former partner in 2022 deserved a custodial sentence.

Ajaz had lung disease and heart problems, the court heard.

The judge said: “Having regard to your guilty pleas and the health conditions you now suffer, I consider it would not be in the interests of justice to remand you immediately.”

Ajaz was banned from owning a dog for the rest of his life and placed under a restraining order.

Before Friday’s sentencing, the BBC reported how the girl had been shopping with her older sister when she was attacked.

She started to run, but the dog grabbed her hand. After the animal was caught and released from her arm, it went on her shoulder and bit her.

Another 20-year-old man was chased into the yard of a garage before the dog attacked him. He had bites on his forearm and cuts and bruises from being dragged.

A second man injured by the dog also went to hospital for treatment.

A witness, who stepped in to help, described how he tried to free the girl from the dog’s grip, eventually succeeding.

The girl was left with scars on her arm and shoulder.

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