by Staff Reporter

Last updated at 17:07, Saturday, 16 February 2013

A woman has been fined after admitting owning an out-of-control dog.

Susan Lister

Susan Patricia Lister, 60, pleaded guilty at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court to one charge that her dog was dangerously out of control.

District Judge Gerald Chalk heard that Lister’s Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog escaped from her garden on August 20, 2012, and ran across the road towards a woman.

Prosecutor Adrienne Harris said the woman was concerned the dog, named Matrix, would bite her and so pushed the rake she was carrying towards it.

The court heard that the victim believed the fencing was not suitable to keep the dog in the garden.

Judge Chalk was told there had been a previous incident 10 days earlier, involving a separate woman.

She had been passing the house with some children when the dog began barking, jumping up and down and attempted to get through the bushes.

The police were informed, but no charges were brought.

Steven Marsh, defending, said his client, of Burgh by Sands, near Carlisle, has lived at the address for more than 20 years. He described Lister as being devoted to her pets.

Mr Marsh said his client had admitted that if children pass her house and knock on the fencing, then Matrix might bark, insisting a dog can be territorial.

Lister has suffered with bad health over the past few months, and said she had not been in the back garden for a while; the court heard that she had allegedly asked her ex-husband to check the fencing, because there was a small gap, and to make it safe.

Lister was fined £100, and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge. A control order was also imposed, which means Matrix must be kept under proper supervision.

First published at 17:01, Saturday, 16 February 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk