EXCLUSIVE: Parents spared jail after one of their 19 husky dogs mauled their three-month-old girl to death in her pram have split over the trauma of the case

• Vince King, 55, and Karen Alcock, 41, parents of Kyra, have now separated  

A couple spared jail when their three-month-old baby daughter was mauled to death by their dog have separated over the trauma of the case, we have learned.

Kyra Leanne King suffered fatal injuries to her neck and head when she was savaged by a Siberian husky sled dog called Blizzard on March 6 last year.

Her parents Vince King, 55, and Karen Alcock, 41, had been exercising 19 dogs on a field when the horror unfolded in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire.

Now Kyra’s parents have split and Karen has moved out of their three bedroom country cottage with a paddock and land for their animals in the village of New York, near Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

The couple were spared being sent to prison on Monday after pleading guilty to being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, causing injury resulting in death.

Kyra’s parents Vince King, 55, and Karen Alcock, 41, had been exercising 19 dogs on a field when the horror unfolded in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire

One local told MailOnline: ‘The tragedy of losing her daughter in the most horrific circumstances and the stress of the court case hanging over her became too much for Karen (pictured) and she left

Friends of King (pictured) say he is also mourning the loss of his favourite husky called Blizzard who must now be destroyed by a court order

One local told MailOnline: ‘The tragedy of losing her daughter in the most horrific circumstances and the stress of the court case hanging over her became too much for Karen and she left. By all accounts their relationship ended acrimoniously.

‘It was a freak accident and they have both been through hell. As well as losing their tiny new baby, who would have turned two this December, the strain of being arrested and charged has wrecked their relationship.

‘There were problems from the moment of the attack, and each tried to blame one another.

‘Then Karen admitted the offence but Vince denied it, then later changed his plea on the first day of his trial.

‘She walked out on him and we haven’t seen her around here since this time last year. No one knows where she’s moved to.’

READ MORE: Parents of three-month-old girl who was mauled to death in her pram by one of their 19 husky dogs which jumped out of a van when they took them for a walk in a park are spared jail 

Friends of King say he is also mourning the loss of his favourite husky called Blizzard who must now be destroyed by a court order.

Kyra, who was normally carried in her mother’s chest sling, was fatally savaged in her pram as the couple were training a pack of dogs for sled racing in a woodland.

The competitive sled racing Siberian husky had also been pregnant at the time of the attack but lost her litter after she was isolated in kennels following the attack.

A Lincolnshire Police source said: ‘The dog was pregnant at the time but the litter sadly died after being delivered but we don’t know why. The dog has been through a traumatic ordeal too.’

Following the defendants’ sentencing, the court made an order, at the request of police, for the husky to be destroyed.

The dog, one of King’s favourite of his pack of 19, had been set to continue breeding and racing.

The court heard the couple had taken their daughter out with them to the woodland to exercise 19 Siberian huskie dogs which King (pictured) raced competitively

The animal had been bought by King six years before the attack and had been racing for three years

Alcock later said Blizzard had escaped two weeks before the mauling, and called her an ‘escape artist’, while King described her as ‘very energetic and eager to run, but not aggressive,’ prosecutor Jeremy Janes had told the court.

The late night horror at a beauty spot in Ostler’s Plantation at Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, on March 06 2022 has taken its toll on the baby’s parents and their families.

Little Kyra was attacked by the pregnant husky as the couple were training a pack of dogs for sled racing in a woodland.

They desperately battle to save the tot, who was in her pram, but she died from appalling head and neck injuries.

READ MORE: Father faces jail for owning out-of-control racing husky which mauled his baby daughter to death: Dangerous dog called Blizzard jumped out of van and attacked three-month-old while she was in her pram – as girl’s mother also pleads guilty

Police investigators found that the parents had taken their daughter out with them to exercise 19 huskies at night.

King, who raced the dogs competitively, and Alcock first walked five of the animals together as Kyra was being pushed by her mum, before King took seven of the dogs on a sled run, the court heard.

When he returned, three of the dogs were placed in the centre of the van to drink and rest, and the side door closed.

They were not shut into kennels, which the van was fitted with, and there was no guard separating the front of the cab from the rear of the van.

Kyra was in her pram next to the front passenger door of the van, which was open.

While the parents were at the back of the van preparing the next group of dogs, Blizzard jumped into the van’s cab from the rear and exited through the open door, where Kyra was. The baby was then savagely attacked.

The desperate couple attempted CPR on the baby until paramedics arrived, but despite the best efforts of everyone Kyra died at the scene.

The incident was reported to police by East Midlands Ambulance Service at 11.13pm that night and the parents were arrested at the scene.

They were charged after a lengthy investigation.

Both admitted to being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death.

Alcock was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and 80 hours’ unpaid work.

King, (pictured with some of their dogs) and Alcock had been exercising 19 dogs on a field when the horror unfolded in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire

The dog leapt from this van to then attack the defenceless three-month-old baby girl 

She has a previous police caution for being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, when a spaniel bit a child’s trousers after it had been sat on.

Her former partner King received 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and 100 hours’ unpaid work.

Giving the pair suspended sentences, Judge Sjolin Knight said the incident resulted from a ‘tragic conjunction of circumstances.’

She said: ‘This is a tragic case, and I have no doubt that both of you wish every day you could wind the clock back so that incident never happened.

‘There was nothing to trigger Blizzard’s attack on Kyra, but on this occasion she was dangerously out of control.

‘Dog ownership is a privilege and for many a pleasure, but it comes with a heavy burden under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

‘Blizzard did an awful thing which neither of you expected and will weigh heavily upon you for the rest of your lives.’

She added: ‘I don’t believe that this incident was reasonably foreseeable but believe it was a momentary lapse of an otherwise good system. It is appropriate to suspend both sentences.’

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