Northampton pair in court over "extremely distressing" dog incident which saw police armed with tasers called to scene

A man and a woman were in Northampton Magistrates' Court on Monday (March 1) over an "extremely distressing" incident involving their dog, which has been accused of being "dangerously out of control", injuring a police officer and scaring sheep.

On December 10 last year, Matthew Boyle, 18, and Jade Buxton, 27, were out walking their white Husky dog Nova in the Upper Nene Country Park area, in Upton Way, when it came loose from its collar.

The prosecution told the court that Nova was "worrying sheep", which led to police being called and armed officers being deployed.

When officers arrived at the scene, they used a Taser gun to paralyse Nova, helping them capture the dog. However, when the animal was caught, it bit one of the police officers on the arm, which subsequently led to Nova being put to sleep.

The court heard how the bitten female officer, PC Murray, described the ordeal as "extremely distressing" and that the dog looked "quite frightened" after being Tasered.

The owner of the field, according to the prosecution, said he had not found any dead sheep but there were some which were "shaken up and looking scared".

Boyle, from Collingtree, and Buxton, from Upton, both pleaded guilty to their dog scaring and worrying the sheep in the field, but pleaded not guilty to owning a dangerous dog.

The pair's defense solicitor, Mrs Garcha, questioned whether the police had used the correct protocol to deal with the incident. She said: "Had the dog not been tasered, maybe it would have not bitten the officer."

Magistrate Sheppard said the trial will recommence on October 21 at Northampton Magistrates' Court. The pair were given unconditional bail.