IPSWICH: A dog owner has been banned from keeping his 16-stone rottweiler after a court found him guilty of breaching an order to keep the mutt restrained in public at all times.

David Angell, 72, of Iris Close, appeared at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with breaching the court order, imposed to ensure his beloved pet Brandy is restrained at all times while in public places.

He was accused of breaching the order on four occasions on January 10, February 5 and 10 and between September 24 and February 24.

At a hearing on May 23 Angell denied the charges against him.

On Tuesday the court heard two of the offences had been dropped, relating to February 10 and between September 24 and February 24.

But magistrates found Angell guilty of the remaining two offences.

The order, made under the Dogs Act 1871, was imposed by magistrates in Ipswich in 2008 following accusations the dog was behaving in an intimidating manner.

At an earlier hearing the court heard Brandy leapt on a woman while she was walking her own dog in Gippeswyk Park and a week later he pounced on a couple who were putting up a tent in the park.

A park supervisor claimed the rottweiler bit his arm during a third incident.

Defending Brandy at an earlier hearing, the pensioner said: “He has been victimised a great deal and it’s just not fair. He has done nothing wrong.

“People love Brandy.”

Angell was disqualified from keeping a dog for three months, fined �100 for failing to comply with the order on January 10 and a further �150 for the February 5 breach.

The court ordered him to pay �450 costs.