A GREAT grandmother, who struggled to eat for weeks after being bitten by a dog outside her Chippenham home, has said no amount of money will ever compensate her for the horror she went through.

Sheila Smith, of Westcroft, will receive £2,000 after she was attacked by Hugo, her neighbour’s Staffie-Shar Pei cross, when she leaned over slightly to greet him last September.

The dog, who was not allowed out the front of the house until he was castrated, sank his teeth into the 66-year-old’s lip, which later needed numerous stitches and injections at the Bath RUH.

“I wasn’t even that close to the dog when it happened,” she said. “I saw him and said something like ‘hello there’ and put my hand out, and the next thing you know he leapt at me and I could feel his teeth biting down on me.

“They stitched it up in the hospital and I was kept in overnight but it took about six weeks to heal properly and I still have a lot of scar tissue along my bottom lip.

“No amount of money can ever cover what has happened to me. The dog should have been put to sleep.

“I have 25 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren and I won’t allow them out the front to play now. Children just want to pet dogs but it’s just not worth the risk.”

The dog had been condemned to death by magistrates, but at Swindon Crown Court on Friday a judge and two justices heard from TV dog expert Debbie Connolly, who said she saw no aggressive traits,and he was spared his life.

The court also heard how the dog, who has since been castrated, has never attacked anyone else.

Instead, the judge ruled that the two-year-old dog will have to wear a muzzle and be on a lead at all times with an adult when out.

His owner, Lorraine Davidson, 49, also of Westcroft, admitted an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act and was given a two-month suspended sentence reduced down from four months, ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work and told to pay compensation of £2,000 to Mrs Smith.

Sentencing, Judge Robert Pawson said: “We have got real concerns about this dog but we are just persuaded – just persuaded – that the dog should not be destroyed immediately.

“There should be a contingency destruction order on the following basis: firstly Hugo is to be muzzled and on a lead at all times when he is outside the address to which the appellant lives, other than in the back garden. Second, when in public he should be under the supervision of someone aged 16 years or over.”