A MAN has admitted an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act after his Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross bit a 77-year-old woman on a Plymouth street.

James McCrainer, aged 27, pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog which caused injury while dangerously out of control in a public place when he appeared at Plymouth Crown Court yesterday.

The prosecution says McCrainer's dog Murphy injured the pensioner by biting her arm in Winchester Gardens, Whitleigh, on October 1 last year.

McCrainer, of Harwell Court in Stonehouse, had been due to stand trial for the offence but changed his plea to guilty on the morning the case was due to start.

Ali Rafati, for the defence, asked Judge Ian Leeming QC to consider not making an immediate order to have Murphy destroyed.

He said: "Mr McCrainer got Murphy when he was two years old from someone who had mistreated him."

The law allows a judge to make a conditional destruction order under which a dog would only be destroyed if the conditions were breached.

The court heard that an expert had visited Murphy, described as a staffie crossed with a bull dog, and believed that he could be kept safely and possibly re-trained.

Mr Rafati said Murphy would not remain with McCrainer, but would be re-homed with a charitable organisation.

Judge Leeming said he was not prepared to make any guarantees, and adjourned the case until October 15.