Owner of out of control dog has sentence cut

The terrified tot and her two-year-old brother had to be shielded by their 26-year-old mum as an agitated loose dog approached them in May last year as they walked through a ginnel.

A court heard the Rottweiler cross, called Trevor, started to run at the toddler, and jumped up and bit her cheek as her mum scooped her up.

Doctors later told the horrified family that if its teeth had sunk in any further it would have “ripped her cheek off”.

The dog’s owner, Julie Salisbury, 50, of Villiers Court, Preston, previously admitted having a dog dangerously out of control and was banned from keeping dogs for five years. Preston Magistrates Court ordered her to do 300 hours’ unpaid work and ordered Trevor to be destroyed.

Recorder Howard Bentham QC, presiding over her appeal at Preston Crown Court, has now ruled the ban on keeping animals was made lawfully.

However, he reduced her costs of £3,983 to £300 and reduced her unpaid work order from 300 to 100 hours and ackowledged the “injury could have been more serious”.

The court also ruled the dog did not have to be destroyed.

The tot, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was left with a little scar. The injury was captured on a phone by her parents.