An 11-year-old boy and his father were hospitalised after being set upon by dogs in a series of attacks at a friend’s home.

The pair had been visiting Billie Mcfarlane at her Christchurch home in February when the attacks happened.

The court heard the father was sitting inside talking with her while his son was in the backyard with the dogs when they began barking.

He called out to his father who ran out and yelled to his boy as the dogs started attacking the pair.

Mcfarlane followed behind and took control of the two American Bull Staffordshires.

The father fled with his son into the front yard as Mcfarlane put the dogs in a gated area and went back inside.

However, the dogs escaped into the front yard and continued attacking the pair.

Both suffered extensive injuries and underwent surgery.

On Tuesday, Mcfarlane faced sentencing in the Christchurch District Court.

Judge Tom Gilbert said Mcfarlane had owned the dogs for four years and was not sure why the attack happened.

The judge noted she had surrendered the dogs to authorities on the day of the attack, and they were put down a couple of days later.

Judge Gilbert said there were no victim impact statements.

Defence lawyer Clare Yardley said there had not been any previous incidents with the dogs.

She said the dogs were not confined because the gate had collapsed.

“She surrendered her dogs voluntarily; her dogs meant a lot to her, they were her companions.

“She was extremely upset and remorseful.”

She said Mcfarlane understood both victims were hospitalised and underwent surgery.

Yardley described the situation as difficult, as there were no signs the dogs were going to be aggressive.

The court heard Mcfarlane told authorities the dogs only trusted her family members.

“We take the risk having a dog, even a small handbag dog,” Yardley said.

“How much culpability can you put on a person who didn’t know this was going to happen?”

Yardley said Mcfarlane was concerned she would be disqualified from owning dogs.

Judge Gilbert said disqualification was not for him, but for territorial authorities to decide.

The police prosecutor said owning such breeds was like driving a large car with large steel spike and being surprised when it causes damage.

Judge Gilbert also had to deal with two dishonesty matters.

About six days before the attacks, a car had been broken into and a purse and debit card stolen.

Judge Gilbert said Mcfarlane went to a couple of petrol stations within a couple of hours of the card being stolen and bought a couple of hundred dollars’ worth of goods.

In sentencing her, he accepted her dogs were not menacing and that she had co-operated.

“It is obvious the two victims will be impacted, physically and emotionally.

“There were serious injuries; two victims, one was a child, there were two separate attacks as part of the wider incident.”

Judge Gilbert gave her a 5% uplift for previous convictions, 25% discount for guilty plea and 5% for remorse and co-operation, leading to a sentence of nine months’ imprisonment.

The judge considered that it should be converted to home detention.

“You certainly have a long history.”

Mcfarlane was sentenced to four and a half months’ home detention and ordered to pay $228 reparation for using the stolen bank card.