Man dies after bite from Staffordshire bull terrier

A young father has died after being bitten on the elbow by a Staffordshire bull terrier as he walked to work.

Stephen Hudspeth was described as a "fantastic dad" by his fiancee. He contracted suspected septicaemia after the attack. The 33-year-old, of Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, suffered flu-like symptoms and was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital with suspected blood poisoning, where he died last Wednesday, just 24 hours after being bitten.

Mr Hudspeth's fiancée Rachel Maughan, 34, paid tribute to the "fun-loving joker" and "special person" who had been taken from her. "He was devoted to his family, and I feel so lucky to have had the time I had with him," she said.

There has been a spate of dog attacks recently. A Staffordshire bull terrier was one of two dogs that killed three-and-a-half-month-old Jaden Joseph Mack at his grandmother's home in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales, on Friday.

And six people, including two children, were injured when two dogs went on the rampage in Bristol. Four people were taken to hospital with bite wounds after the attack by two escaped Alsatians yesterday morning. Among the victims was a six-year-old girl who suffered bites to her left side and a 15-year-old schoolboy who was bitten on the arm. The girl's 45-year-old mother was bitten on the forearm and bicep as she tried to fend off the dogs.