A DOG owner was fined after his red-haired hound bit a woman's leg, leaving her with scratch marks.

Fifty-year-old Joseph Teasdale admitted Coonhound Jake was out of control on Friday, July 12, when it escaped from its paddock at Moreton Spirit Farm, Abbots Morton, near Evesham.

"The hound bit her on the thigh, leaving her with five or six scratchmarks," said Mark Soper, prosecuting yesterday at Worcester Magistrates Court.

Teasdale, defending himself, said he was not at the farm at the time and did not know what had happened.

The victim had reported him to police, the court heard.

Warning

Magistrates ordered him to pay a £50 fine, £50 compensation and £55 costs and warned him to keep his dog under control at all times.

Coonhounds - medium-sized dogs - were originally bred to pull raccoons out of trees.