A 29-year-old Lydney woman has been ordered to pay compensation of £1,000 to the victim of an attack by her German Shepherd dog when it was ‘dangerously out of control.’

Jessica Ballinger, of Old Town Mews, High Street, Lydney, pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court to being the person in charge of ‘Bruno’, a black and tan dog, when he was out of control on the Lydney Park Estate at Aylburton and seriously injured a woman on 1st June this year.

The court sentenced Ballinger to six months imprisonment suspended for a year. As well as being ordered to pay the victim £1,000 compensation Ballinger 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.

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.