Couple in court after man loses limbs in dog attack

Matthew Roberts and Chloe Taylor leaving court. Roberts is wearing a long-sleeve navy polo shirt, he is white and has black wavy hair. Taylor is white, is wearing a white button-up shirt with a black jumper over the top. She has long, hot pink nails and light brown hair.
Matthew Roberts, 30, and Chloe Taylor, 27, will be sentenced on 6 December [Eddie Mitchell]

A couple from Chichester have pleaded guilty after their two Rottweilers attacked a pensioner so badly he had to have an arm and a leg amputated.

Vic Franklin, 78, was attacked in August 2023 near his home in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, while walking his own dog.

Matthew Roberts, 30, and Chloe Taylor, 27, both pleaded guilty to two counts of being in charge of a dog that caused injury while dangerously out of control in a public place.

The pair remain on bail following their appearance at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday and will be sentenced on 6 December.

Witnesses to the incident described how Mr Franklin was dragged along the road by the two dogs.

The emergency response to the incident included Sussex Police firearm officers who shot and killed the Rottweilers, named Ziggy and Daisy.

Vic Franklin smiling in a wheel chair while wearing a light blue blanket and a hospital gown. He is a elderly white man who is bald on top with dark hair on the sides of his head. He has a bandage on his right arm which has been amputated by the elbow and a bandage on his left arm and hand.
Mr Franklin had his left leg, right arm and left middle finger amputated [Sussex Police]

The attack left Mr Franklin so badly injured that he lost his left leg, right arm and left middle finger.

His family have said they were "completely devastated" by the incident.

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