Summary
Two Forest of Dean women whose out-of-control dogs caused injury to members of the public have been ordered to pay compensation to the victims. Cheltenham Magistrates also made a destruction order against one of the dogs, a German Shepherd called Bruno but suspended it for as long as the animal is kept under proper control.
Details
Bruno is owned by Jessica Ballinger, of Old Town Mews, High St, Lydney, who pleaded guilty to being in charge of the dog when he was out of control on the Lydney Park Estate at Aylburton and seriously injured a woman on June 1, this year. The court sentenced Ballinger to six months jail suspended for a year.
As well as being ordered to pay the victim £1,000 compensation she was also ordered to pay prosecution and court costs of £855. The magistrates said a prison term was justified for the offence because it was ‘an unprovoked attack of a serious nature’ and also because of the level of injury caused to the victim.
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As well as the prison term and financial penalties the court made a contingent order for Bruno’s destruction. The magistrates said they were satisfied that Bruno would constitute a danger to the public safety – but accepted that the defendant is a ‘fit and proper person’ to keep him.
(A CDO – contingent destruction order – is a conditional court order under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 that saves a dog from being put down provided that the owner strictly follows legal conditions for keeping it under control. Also before the magistrates last week was Philippa Tovey, 53, of Greenacre, Bream, whose XL Bully dog injured a woman in Bream on February 16, last year.
Tovey denied that the dog was dangerously out of control when the incident happened but after a trial the magistrates found her guilty. They fined her £210 and ordered her to pay the victim £400 compensation. She was also ordered to pay £250 costs and an £84 surcharge – making her total financial penalty £944.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester
