£42,000 payout for boy bitten by police dog after street battle

The 14-year-old was bitten on the ear by the dog as officers tried to break up the fight.

But after threatening legal action against police, the youth - who cannot be named - was awarded the sum in an out-of-court settlement. The payment has been condemned as "utterly perverse".

It is feared the damages, thought to be Britain's largest ever payout for a dog bite, could open the floodgates to countless other claims against police dogs.

Inspector Brian Stockham, chairman of the Sussex Police Federation - which represents rank-and-file officers - attacked the decision to award the money.

He also criticised the force for ruling the dog was unsafe and ordering it to be destroyed.

He said: "I'm shocked. It seems dreadful that we are paying out such sums of public money to someone involved in a street disturbance. The force not only lost £42,500 but also an excellent police dog. It seems utterly perverse."

The incident happened in Brighton city centre in 2002 when police were called to break up a fight involving youths with knives and bottles.

But when officers arrived at 2.30am, the group fled - with one of them being caught by a police dog called Bruce, which bit off part of his ear.

The youth, who was not arrested and claimed he was not involved in the fight, needed reconstructive surgery to mend the side of his face.

He then launched a civil case against police for compensation - which was settled out of court in 2005 by Sussex Police's civil claims department. The payout also covered the teenager's legal costs.

After the incident, Sussex Police decided to put Bruce down by lethal injection, saying he had "strayed from his training".

At the time, Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Yeo described him as a "piece of equipment that should be destroyed if it goes wrong". But the force was widely criticised by animal lovers and Bruce's handler PC Tattum, who offered to keep him as a pet. Such was the outrage, residents of Brighton even raised £600 to erect a plaque in his honour.

The Sussex force defended the decision to award the compensation, which came to light as a result of a Freedom of Information request.

Brian Welfare, the force's civil claims manager, accepted the award was high but insisted it was within compensation guidelines.

He said: "It was made on the basis of medical evidence in respect of the boy's injury and associated illnesses caused by the incident, plus his disfigurement and reconstructive surgery."

He added that the teenager had not been prosecuted and claimed that he was an innocent bystander.

A spokesman for the force said the police had also reviewed their policy on dog bites since Bruce's attack. He said that dogs were trained to sink their teeth into offenders' arms if they were attacking officers or trying to flee - and could be ruled "unsafe" if they bit anywhere else.