THE JURY in the case of an Egremont man whose pet dog bit a police sergeant has cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Tony Wardle, 51, denied assaulting a police officer and he also pleaded not guilty to being the owner of a dog that was dangerously out of control when it injured somebody.

In the last few minutes, the Carlisle Crown Court jury returned not guilty verdicts on both of the allegations Mr Wardle faced. Before sending out the jury, the judge summarised the evidence.

Recorder Simon Killeen also allowed the jury to see the police body-cam video footage of the incident on the afternoon on August 18 last year.

It showed officers arriving at the defendant's Lamb Court home, where they began a conversation with Mr Wardle - through his front door and an open window - asking him to go with them to the station to discuss an incident the previous day outside the town's Co-op store.

As Sergeant Joanne Philip and her colleagues tried to arrest Mr Wardle in his living room, his pet terrier Digger bit her in the calf.

The officer told the jury she saw Wardle "motion" with his arm towards the officers, telling the dog something like: "Go and get them." She said Mr Wardle was being "aggressive."

In his evidence, Mr Wardle insisted he had actually said: "Get in, Digger" and that he was simply concerned that his dog should be out of the way when the officers came into his house.

A dog expert had told the court that it was unlikely the dog could have understand any command. "But we're not looking in to the dog's mind," said the judge. Mr Wardle told the jury he believed the officers should have had a warrant to go into his house.

He was convinced they were entering his home illegally, the court heard, though the officers were acting legally. At the conclusion of the case, the judge thanked the jury for their work.