A MAN has been cleared of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control which allegedly bit a police officer’s leg.

Jake Thorpe, 45, was with his dog, named Scampi, near a pharmacy in Cavalry Road, Colchester, on October 14, 2019.

Three police officers in plain clothes were on patrol in the area and approached Thorpe, who was seen talking to two other men suspected to be engaged in drug activity.

A trial at Ipswich Crown Court heard Thorpe, of Attlee Gardens, Colchester, was told he was to be detained for a stop and search procedure.

Summing up the evidence heard across a three-day trial, Judge Martyn Levett said police sergeant Tom Caton told the jury he engaged in a struggle with an uncooperative Thorpe.

The officer said he told Thorpe he was detaining him for a search three times, but he did not comply.

He told the jury Thorpe kicked out at his shins after he took hold of his arm, before he placed the suspect in a headlock.

Recounting the officer’s evidence, Judge Levett said: “At this point, I felt a sharp bite on my right calf.

“I could hear some growling noises and I looked down at what was going on. I could see a dog biting me, it bit me a further two times or thereabouts.

“It then bit my trousers and was pulling backwards.”

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The officer said a colleague kicked the dog after he yelled out for help.

The prosecution contended Thorpe had not kept Scampi on a lead and was not in control of his pet when it bit the officer.

But in his evidence to the jury, Thorpe said the police officers had “lied”, insisting he kept his dog on a lead at all times until he was detained.

He told the jury an officer had approached him and contended he was “doing drugs”, which he denied.

Thorpe said he was forced to the floor, face down, with his hand pushed up behind his back.

Summing up his evidence, Judge Levett said: “All I heard was my dog barking.

“The police then got some information I was not involved in the initial viewing of two men taking drugs and afterwards they let me go.”

The jury cleared Thorpe of one charge of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.