TWO rottweilers which attacked a passer-by in a Worcester street have been given a reprieve by a judge after their family's three children begged for their lives.

The two dogs, called Ellie and Rommel, owned by Phillip Collins, could have been destroyed but were saved after his children wrote to the court and he made an effort to control the dogs.

Droitwich Magistrates Court heard yesterday how the dogs broke through a fence in the Collins' garden before attacking Clive Hughes and his wife and daughter, leaving him with stitches in his nose.

"Mr and Mrs Hughes were walking along a path when they saw the two Rottweilers come out of a garden," said Jim England, prosecuting. "The female started snapping and snarling, jumped up on Mr Hughes and bit his nose.

"He tried to wriggle free but was bitten again on the knee."

Under dangerous dog legislation, both the dogs could have been destroyed.

Instead, district judge Philip Browning decided to order the dogs to be kept muzzled whenever they were in a public place.

He made his decision after hearing 40-year-old Collins had built a more secure compound for the dogs in his home in Ransom Avenue, off Bath Road, only took them out when muzzled, and was sending them to dog training lessons.

Collins told the court how he shouldered the blame for the incident entirely, as he had brought the animals up as guard dogs.

"Mr Collins wishes to apologise to Mr Hughes and his family, and says the last thing he would want was for anyone to be injured or frightened by his dogs," said Brian O'Connell, defending.

"He blames himself as his dogs are guard dogs and they protect him and his family. Perhaps he has trained them to be over-protective.

"He has had these dogs for some time, and there have been no similar incidents either before or since."

Collins was ordered to pay £150 in fines and £50 costs after admitting having a dog dangerously out of control and having a dog which caused an injury.