Dog injured woman in Whaplode after chewing through a chain

A Lincolnshire woman has admitted having a dog which was out of control when it injured another woman.

Sharon Foster, 38, of High Road in Whaplode, near Spalding, will be sentenced next month after she admitted the charge at Lincoln Crown Court.

Victim Emily Ormes was injured after the Alsatian cross breed type dog escaped on Thursday May 18 last year.

The court heard the animal had been tied to a post in a rear garden but got free after biting through a chain which had been placed around it’s neck.

James Gray, mitigating, asked for Mrs Foster to be sentenced straight away and said some safety measures had been taken to look after the dog.

Mr Gray told the court: “It wasn’t that there weren’t any safety measures, but they proved insufficient.

“The dog had escaped on one previous occasion when it was wearing a harness so the chain was fitted which he had been wearing for four months.

“On this occasion when the dog escaped Mrs Foster went to find it straight away.

“She went one way and sent her daughter the other way, and when the police arrived she assisted them with the dog.”

Judge Andrew Easteal adjourned sentence for the preparation of a probation report on Mrs Foster but told her she would not face jail.

The judge said it was a “terrible incident” for the victim but added that Mrs Foster had not previously been before the courts.

He also ordered an update on the condition of the dog which could face a destruction order.

The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence against Mrs Foster’s partner, Shawn Foster, 43, of the same address, relating to the incident.

Mrs Foster was granted bail until April 19 when she will be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court.