Jack Lis: 'The thought of the way my son died haunts me'

"The circumstances and the thought of how my son Jack must have been feeling at that time, all alone, in pain and frightened to death haunts me every day and night. I cannot close my eyes at night and think of anything else."

Those were the words of John Lis, whose 10-year-old son was mauled to death by a dog on 8 November 2021.

He and Jack's mother Emma Whitfield were speaking as Brandon Hayden, 19, and Amy Salter, 29, were jailed for owning or being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog.

Jack was mauled by the American or XL Bully dog called "Beast" and suffered "unsurvivable" injuries to the head and neck.

In a statement read to Cardiff Crown Court on his behalf, Mr Lis said: "How can I find the words to describe the impact that my son Jack's tragic unnecessary death have had on mine and my family's life? There isn't any.

"Losing a child is heart-breaking to say the least, but to lose a child in such an horrific, unimaginable way is not something that anyone would ever be able to come to terms with or accept.

"The circumstances and the thought of how my son Jack must have been feeling at that time, all alone, in pain and frightened to death haunts me every day and night. I cannot close my eyes at night and think of anything else.

"Jack was 10 years old and had his whole life ahead of him, but this was taken from him so unnecessarily, and so tragically.

"I'll never get to see him turn into a young man, learn to drive, get married or have children of his own - his brothers and sisters are so young they won't remember him."

He added: "All I can pray for is that we get some justice for Jack's needless death and that lessons will be learnt preventing any other child and family suffering as we are."

In a statement to the court, Jack's mother Ms Whitfield said: "No mum should ever have the last images of their child as being dragged from a house, knowing deep down they're gone but praying that it isn't so.

"I close my eyes and I see the animal and its teeth. I hear the barking. I have severe panic attacks and I have horrifying flashbacks.

"I constantly ask 'Why my boy? Why Jack?' I would have given my life trying to protect him, but I couldn't do this because he wasn't somewhere familiar."

Ms Whitfield said some of the last conversation they had as a family were about Christmas presents, and what Jack wanted.

"Being able to buy his Christmas presents was even taken from us because all he asked for was clothes," she continued.

"We were no longer shopping for Christmas presents, we were shopping for clothes for Jack to be buried in.

"We should still have our Jack here in person to talk to, but instead we say good morning and good night to his pictures without a response.

"I'm trapped in what used to be our family home. Now it's broken and it will never be the same again."

Speaking outside the court after Hayden and Salter received their sentences of four-and-a-half and three years respectively, Ms Whitfield reflected on the family's life without Jack.

"I'm without my son. I'm without his smiles, his stories, his presents. Nothing will ever make up for what this has done to my family," she told reporters.

"Jack laughed, he played, he told jokes. He deserved to live more of a life than this.

"I could stand here all day and tell you what Jack meant to us, and still means to us.

"We will never stop grieving Jack or loving him. Our love will continue to stay strong.

"So much has been taken from us. Now we must live with our life sentence without such a beautiful boy."