BRITAIN: Britain's Princess Anne yesterday became the first British royal in 350 years to be convicted of a criminal offence, pleading guilty to violating the Dangerous Dogs Act after her bull terrier bit two children.
The princess was fined £500 (€790), having made the first British royal guilty plea ever recorded. She could have faced six months in jail. Constitutional experts could recall no other case of a senior royal being convicted of a crime since Charles I was beheaded in 1649.
Dotty, the princess's three-year-old English bull terrier, who could have faced the death penalty, was spared, provoking criticism from the parents of the victims.
"I order that Dotty be kept under control for the rest of her life," said Judge Penelope Hewitt at the magistrates court in Slough, west of London. "If there is a repetition . . . that is the end of it."
Defence lawyer Mr Hugo Keith went to great lengths to prove Dotty's good character, calling on a dog behavioural expert and presenting references from people who know the dog.
The expert, Dr Roger Mugford, said Dotty was a kind and boisterous dog who had a bit of a problem with bicycles and grew agitated when the two boys, aged seven and 12, cycled by in Great Windsor Park in April.
The judge described the owners as "extremely responsible people", but added: "I do think that the children did suffer considerably from this experience."
The case was listed as Regina - Latin for "the queen" - vs. Anne Elizabeth Alice Laurence, symbolically pitting mother against daughter.
The parents of the boys involved, who cannot be named for legal reasons, criticised the sentence and said their children were scared to leave the house because of the incident. - (Reuters)