She was left with injuries to her face and abdomen
11:08, 22 Sep 2025Updated 11:09, 22 Sep 2025
Scooby is a Belgian Malinois dog (Cover Images)
A dog is set to be put down after it attacked a girl at a high street market and left her permanently scarred. Scooby, a Belgian Malinois, jumped at the eight-year-old while she browsed stalls in Sandgate Road, Folkestone – leaving her with wounds to her cheek and abdomen.
The dog’s owner, Mohammed Kadir, quickly walked away when the child screamed in fright and ran to her father. Her dad gave chase, but Scooby snarled and jumped up at his arm, injuring him too. The attack left the girl “shaken, quiet and clingy” – and with facial scars.
Folkestone magistrates heard Scooby had previously lunged at a police officer and locked its jaws around his wrist. As a result, a contingent destruction order was made on the dog, which meant it had to be kept under control at all times in public.
However, while Kadir was at the market on May 18 last year, “a momentary lapse of concentration” led to Scooby hurting the girl. The 46-year-old was later charged with two counts of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, causing injury. He admitted the offences when he appeared in court in May this year.
The case was adjourned and Kadir returned to Folkestone Magistrates’ Court to learn his fate. He gave an address as the Rainbow Centre, Sangate Road, but the bench was told he lives in a caravan.
Sandgate Road in Folkestone town centre, where the market is held (Cover Images)
Describing the events, Victoria Aked, prosecuting, said: “The victim is at the scene at the market with her mother and father. She wanders off to look at something and walks towards Scooby, and the dog leaps up at her, and as he jumps up, she is bitten on the face and abdomen and pushed over.
“She goes to find her father, and he then goes to find the dog owner, but the owner runs off with the dog, and the dad also gets injured.”
Two CCTV clips of the incidents were then shown to the bench, which clearly showed the dog jumping up at the girl. The footage also shows her father in pursuit of Kadir and Scooby. He chases them down some steps before being attacked.
Ms Aked added: “He gets bitten on the arm and has a scar, and she’s got a scar on her face.” In a written victim impact statement, the dad described hearing the dog bark and then his daughter scream. He turned around to see her on the floor and then get up and run over to him.
He added that members of the public were also shouting at Kadir to stay put – but those requests were ignored. The statement added: “I then extended my arm in a gesture for him to stop, but the dog began to snarl, and it jumped up on me, and the dog’s teeth made contact with my skin, and then let go.
“My heart rate was very high and I began to feel discomfort. I shouted at him to stop, but he disappeared and I went back to my daughter.”
The girl was taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where she had to have Steri-Strips put on the wounds and take antibiotics. Her dad added: “She was quiet and clingy and missed school [for one day] and I stayed home to look after her.”
He also said that despite the wound healing well, she still had a visible scar on her cheek. The prosecutor added: “He [Kadir] was identified and made a no comment interview. During a second voluntary interview, he was shown the video but also made no comment.”
Ms Aked added: “He clearly fails to control the dog on a lead. It’s an aggravating feature that it’s happened before.”
According to a police report, Scooby, who has been kept in kennels since being seized 16 months ago, is not good with other dogs and lunges at them. The prosecutor added: “Scooby does pose a risk to the public and the kennel costs come to £6,825.”
Darren Cousins, defending, told the court the injuries were caused by the dog’s “long nails”.
Mohammed Kadir outside Folkestone Magistrates’ Court (Cover Images)
He added: “The dog had a halter muzzle on to control it by the nose. You can see from the video the dog didn’t use its teeth; it scratched her face. He was in Folkestone market that day, but already had the dog muzzled, so he was being responsible, but what happened was unfortunate.
“He didn’t see the girl, and the dog just jumped up and kicked the girl to the ground. He had it on a tight lead and just walked off. The father was shouting at him. In fact, a group of people were all shouting and started to follow [him], and that’s the only reason he moved off.”
The court also heard Kadir, who is originally from Iraq, had been in this country since 1997 and lives in a caravan. He has no mental health issues but does smoke cannabis to help with his back pain. Ms Aked then told magistrates it was not relevant whether the dog bit or scratched the child and her father, as they still suffered injuries.
Mr Cousins added: “He did adhere to the warnings [previous orders]. He had the dog on the lead. He’s had Scooby for two years and trained the dog himself, and it may have been trying to protect him. You may think he’s not a fit and proper owner, but he had the dog muzzled.
“It was a momentary lapse of concentration. He had the dog on the lead at all times.”
Magistrates told Kadir the offences were very serious. It was the second time the dog had attacked people, and these new offences did pass the custody threshold. As a result, they jailed Kadir for six months for the offences, but said they could suspend the term for 12 months.
Kadir was also ordered to carry out 15 rehabilitation sessions and must pay the child and her father £100 in compensation. The bench also banned him from keeping dogs for five years and ordered Scooby to be put down. Kadir was also ordered to pay a contribution of £1,000 towards police kennel costs as well as a victim surcharge of £154 and £85 court costs.
