Dog owner's £2,000 compensation bill after Northamptonshire postal worker loses part of a finger

Northampton magistrates ordered a dog owner to pay £2,000 compensation to a postal worker who lost part of a finger after being bitten.

The Royal Mail employee was delivering mail through a door in Rushden during December last year when a Shar Pei called Mimi, owned by Shanice Blackette, bit her.

The postie was taken to hospital and told that part of the top of a finger had been lost during the attack.

Blackette, 27, admitted an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act earlier this month and was given a conditional discharge, meaning she will face no further punishment if she stays out of trouble for the next 12 months.

But Blackette, of Catlin Way, Rushden, was ordered to pay the postie £2,000 in compensation plus a surcharge to fund victim services of £22.

Shar Peis are traditionally Chinese fighting dogs but much-loved in Europe for their excessively wrinkled skin.

A Royal Mail spokesman welcomed the sentence, saying: "We take the safety of our postmen and women very seriously.

"The impact on postal workers can be devastating as injuries can have a disabling and permanent effect."

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