THE owners of a dog which bit a toddler’s face outside a supermarket told magistrates it was uncharacteristic for their pet to be aggressive.

Chloe Love, two, from Bromley Green Road, Ruckinge, near Ashford, was bitten outside Tesco Park Farm, Kingsnorth, on April 20 last year.

Jacqueline Lee, 40, of Tennyson Road, Ashford, was fined £50 and ordered to pay the victim £300 compensation after she admitted being in charge of the alsatian-labrador cross when it attacked the little girl.

Charges against her partner Barry Elden, 38, of the same address, were dropped.

Magistrates at Ashford heard that Lee had tied the dog up outside the supermarket while she shopped. “I’m responsible because I walked him,” she told the court.

Sara Pilcher, prosecuting, said the dog, named Ghost, had bitten three people outside Tesco that day, but that the other two victims had not pressed charges because they sustained only very minor injuries.

The court heard that Chloe was being looked after by a childminder at the time of the attack, but had let go of her minder’s hand and gone up to the dog, which was tethered to a pole near the children’s playthings.

“The dog grabbed the small child by the face,” said Ms Pilcher.

Chloe needed stitches to her mouth, nose and lip following the attack and was kept overnight in hospital.

The magistrates heard that five-year-old Ghost also bit a security guard on the wrist before the owner was summoned and was ordered to move the dog away from the entrance until police arrived.

Lee told the court she moved Ghost near the cycle racks and tried to keep people away from him but he went on to bite a cyclist who approached suddenly and put out his hand to the animal.

Ms Pilcher said police officers stated the dog “appeared placid and under control” when they arrived at the scene.

“Officers advised Mrs Lee to muzzle the dog in public,” she added.

Lee said she was truly sorry for what had happened and said Ghost had not bitten anyone before or since.

“He’s normally of a gentle nature,” she said. “He’s normally a very kind dog.”

“I have a 10-year-old daughter and she plays with him.”

The court heard that Ghost was from the Dogs Trust, a welfare organisation, and had been with his current owners for more than three years.

Lee was told Ghost must always be muzzled while in a public place. She was ordered to pay £60 costs.