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Princess fined for dog attack
SLOUGH, England -- The only daughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne, has been fined £500 ($780) after pleading guilty to a charge that her dog bit two children in a public park. The family of the injured boys immediately criticised the sentence, saying the dog should have been put down. "We do not think justice has been done," the family said in a written statement. "The dog is still free and is a danger to society. Therefore the decision made is neither moral nor just." The 52-year-old princess -- who royal experts said is the first senior royal to be convicted of a criminal charge for more than 350 years -- admitted the offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act just minutes after arriving in court to face the allegation. The Princess Royal, flanked by her husband, Commodore Tim Laurence, walked into East Berkshire Magistrates Court in Slough in front of dozens of news photographers. It was alleged that the couple were in charge of a dog that was dangerously out of control and injured the children, who were aged 7 and 12. The case against Laurence was dropped when the princess admitted the offence, the UK Press Association reported. The incident happened as the couple walked their 3-year-old English bull terrier, Dotty, in Windsor Great Park near the main residence of the princess's mother on April 1, two days after the death of the Queen Mother. The case was listed as Regina vs. Anne Elizabeth Alice Laurence -- a legal battle symbolically pitting mother against daughter. Constitutional experts could recall no case of such a senior royal being convicted of a crime since Charles I was beheaded for treason on the eve of civil war in 1649. Anne in theory could have been jailed for six months but was fined £500, ordered to pay £250 compensation and £148 court costs. District Judge Penelope Hewitt ordered that the princess's dog be kept on a lead in public places and should undergo training. She warned that under the Dangerous Dogs Act, Dotty would be destroyed if there were any further incidents. After asking if the princess "would be so kind as to stand up," the district judge passed sentence, saying: "I consider that the owners are extremely responsible and if an order is made I have no doubt they will adhere to it. "It nevertheless is a big responsibility and they have to be aware that if anything goes wrong, if there is another repeat of what happened on Easter Monday, then that is the end of it." The district judge said the children involved had suffered "considerably" from their experience. "I think the children simply didn't know what to do. It was a very, very unfortunate episode and I can only hope that the children, as time goes by, will become more amenable to dogs," she said. The 12-year-old suffered a bite on the collarbone and two bites to the left leg, both of which broke the skin, and the 7-year-old had scratch marks on his right forearm, on the back and the left leg, the court heard. The children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, still suffer nightmares from the incident, according to the family statement. "Our children were lucky that they avoided grievous injuries -- other children may not be so lucky. "Our children have been psychologically affected and are fearful of going out on their own. They have become very fearful of all dogs and still have nightmares. "If the dog had been put down it would have been recognition of this and helped our children psychologically." Prosecutor Anthony Smith told the court that the father of the 7-year-old had taken him and three nephews, including the 12-year-old, to Windsor Great Park for a bicycle ride. The dog ran at them as they rode down a hill, the court heard, and then jumped up at the 12-year-old, who fell off his bike and was seen trying to "fight off" Dotty. The 7-year-old's father twice kicked the dog away but the dog then chased the other boys as they continued to ride their bicycles and jumped at the 7-year-old, who also fell over, Smith said. The father ran up and kicked the dog off his son, but the dog came back "on several occasions." It was then that Laurence tried to catch the dog, which ran to the princess and was put in a car, Smith said. The princess apologised for the dog's behaviour, then gave the father and the two boys a lift to hospital while her husband waited with the other youngsters, Smith said. Canine psychologist Roger Mugford described Dotty as "an utterly placid, playful dog" and told the court she should not be put down. Princess Anne's lawyer, Hugo Keith, said Dotty was "a good-natured dog" who had only "nipped" the children. He said the boys would make a full recovery. "All those who know the dog have found her exceptionally good and wholly lacking in malice," Keith said. "She is described by one person who knows her well as a 'big puppy."'
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