A DOG who bit a great grandma's face leaving her permanently scarred has been spared the death penalty.

Hugo the Staffie-Shar Pei cross launched himself at the woman sinking his teeth into her lips of a neighbour of his owner Lorraine Davidson.

And while the 49-year-old got a suspended jail sentence and told to pay compensation magistrates ordered the dog should be put down.

But after a judge sitting with two justices at Swindon Crown Court heard a TV dog expert tell them she saw no aggression in Hugo he was spared his life.

However the two year old family pet will have to wear a muzzle and be on a lead at all times when out and must always be with an adult.

Josh Scouller, prosecuting, said Sheila Smith had stopped to speak to some people close to her Chippenham home in September last year when she was attacked.

After seeing the brown dog she said something like 'hello there', he said, and leaned slightly forward, though did not bend over, and held out her right hand.

"All of a sudden the dog jumped up and bit her twice to the area of the mouth," he said.

A lad called Kyle, who was about 19 or 20, shouted at the animal and took him inside and a few moments later Davidson got back.

She said the dog was not allowed out the front of the house until he was castrated adding "I have told them time and again: why do think my back garden in fenced off?", he said.

Although she later denied saying that, giving evidence she accepted she had but that she meant she was worried the dog would run off, something it had never done.

Davidson then took Mrs Smith to the RUH in Bath where she had numerous stitches and injections to her badly cut lips.

As a result of the bite the victim said she was in a great deal of pain and could not eat properly for a long time after.

She said she was particularly upset as Davidson's daughter Hayleigh, who was also there, told her 'You are only bleeding so much because you are old'.

Mrs Smith said she still sees the dog roaming in the garden and feels it should be put down because of the threat she fears is poses should it get out.

Davidson, of Westcroft, Chippenham, admitted an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Pamela Rose, defending, said the dog had now been castrated and had never attacked before or since.

Debbie Connolly, an animal behaviourist who was a trainer BBC3 show Dog Borstal, said she had assessed the dog and said it showed no aggression.

While she could not say any dog would never bite again, and it was a bit boisterous, a muzzle and lead would counter any risk he presented.

Judge Robert Pawson, sitting with two magistrates, said "We have got real concerns about this dog but wee 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 he is not to be, when in public he should be under the supervision of someone aged 16 years or over."

They also reduced the suspended sentence from four months to two, retained the 160 hours of unpaid work and upped the compensation from £1,500 to £2,000.