Newport dog walk woman, 28, cleared of alleged attack
A care assistant has been cleared of any wrongdoing after two dogs in her care allegedly attacked another dog and its owner in a Newport street.
Mother-of-three Terri East had been accused of being in charge of two "greyhound type" dogs that were dangerously out of control.
The charge was brought after Roger Fellows told police he and his Bichon Frise dog Daisy had been attacked by the dogs, called Sally and Kenny, in Newport in May last year.
Mr Fellows said he was walking Daisy on May 26 when the dogs, one of which was a bull cross greyhound and the other a whippet, "came out of nowhere".
He said they were not on leads and attacked his dog, going on to attack him as he tried to get them off her.
He claimed East was nowhere near the dogs during the attack and arrived after it had finished, putting them on leads before calmly walking off after it happened.
Giving evidence at East's trial at Telford Magistrates Court yesterday, Mr Fellows said: "I got Daisy in my arms, she was squealing and crying and all sorts."
Mr Fellows claimed he had to run to catch East up to get her details before reporting it to police.
He had to have butterfly stitches on a cut to his hand, while his dog suffered swelling above one eye and cuts to her stomach. But East's solicitor, Mrs Kate Scully, put to Mr Fellows that the minor injuries suffered were not consistent with the violent attack he had described.
East, giving evidence, said the dogs were on leads.
She said there had been a "scuffle" between the dogs. "He was trying to pick his dog up and she was biting him on the hand," she said.
East, 28, of Vauxhall Crescent, Newport, denied the charge throughout. Justices said they found the accounts by both Mr Fellows and East to be "credible".
Magistrates acquitted her after ruling the Crown had not done enough to prove beyond reasonable doubt East was guilty of the offence.
