Owner of dangerous dog banned from keeping dogs for 5 years following Fenland court case

THE owner of a dangerous Staffordshire bull terrier that injured a sleeping 10-week old baby has been banned from keeping dogs for the next five years.

But the dog called Roxy - which also terrified a family when it trapped them in a Chatteris play park - escaped with its life after a court case.

Carrie St Clair, 21, of Angoods Lane, admitted she had allowed her dog to enter a property in Chatteris, where the child was injured.

The infant was lying on a sofa when the dog got into the family home through a door opened while the child's mother binned a nappy, Fenland magistrates were told.

The animal jumped on the sleeping baby. "It was right on top of her, it covered her," said prosecutor Scheherazade Haque.

The baby suffered a scratched forehead that bled, caused by the dog's claws.

St Clair further admitted being the owner of a dog that was dangerously out of control in Marritt Close, Chatteris.

During that incident a family with a young child had tried to get away from the dog which was jumping, barking, and showing its teeth.

The family escaped by going through an inner fence at the playground.

"The dog ran round the inner fence and jumped over the fence into the enclosed area, and went for the child," said Ms Haque. "The father was petrified and feared for himself and his family."

Mitigating, solicitor John Clarke said the dog had escaped from St Clair's garden while she was away from home. Carl Goodman had gone to the property, but St Clair had failed to warn him that the dog was there. The animal escaped when a gate was left open.

St Clair was ordered to pay �200 compensation to each of the families affected by the dog's behaviour, and �100 costs.

*The Crown Prosecution Service dropped charges against Carl Goodman, 25, of West Street, Chatteris. He had denied being in charge of the dog when the two offences were committed.