Jeff Pennington in court after dog attack by Breydon Water

The walker was on the Weavers Way near the Berney Arms pub on the banks of Breydon Water when he was attacked.

The dog, a greyhound cross lurcher called Amelia, bit him three times on his backside, wounding him and tearing his jeans.

The animal's owner, Jeff Pennington, 62, appeared at Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where he was ordered to pay the victim £200 after admitting being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.

The court was told that Pennington lives at the Berney Arms - once known as Norfolk's most remote pub - and that the dog was roaming the surrounding countryside, where two walking routes meet, the Weavers' Way and Wherryman's Way.

Amelia, a whippet cross greyhound, bit a walker three times on his bottom (Image: Bruno Brown)

Amelia, aged nine, and Pennington's other dog Slodge had escaped from the property and were running free when the smaller dog attacked the walker at around 6pm on August 11 last year.

Damien Moore, mitigating for Pennington, said his 14-year-old son was supposed to have been looking after the dogs on that day.

He told magistrates it was the first time the "calm" dog had been violent, claiming it was "out of character".

Mr Moore also said that Pennington gave the rambler £30 in compensation when he returned the dogs so he could "buy a new pair of jeans" and that the money was accepted with no indication of further action.

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Jeff Pennington and his nine-year-old dog Amelia (Image: Bruno Brown)

Magistrates were shown photographs of the victim's buttock wounds and ripped trousers.

Before the sentencing, police visited the dog to decide how dangerous they considered it.

Officers recommended she did not need to be put down but must be muzzled in public and kept on a lead at all times.

Pennington was ordered to pay £200 in compensation to the victim and an additional £238 in other court charges.

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He is part of a community of around half a dozen people who live at the former pub site, either in the building itself, in static caravans or boats moored nearby.

Some of the properties there are facing enforcement action from the Broads Authority, which says they breach planning rules.

Jeff Pennington outside of Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court (Image: Bruno Brown)

Outside the court, Pennington said: "The Berney is the best mooring spot in Norfolk so it would be a mistake for people to be deterred to come along.

"Previously there were wild horses charging around and a pet fox which has now left the Berney site.

"It is now just the whippets here, and one of them has made a mistake which was very uncharacteristic and I am sorry."

Jeff Pennington and his dog Amelia stood on the Wherryman's Way in front of a choppy Breydon Water (Image: Bruno Brown)