Castle owner ‘ let labrador bite postman on buttocks’
A WEALTHY castle owner allowed his ‘dangerously out of control’ labrador to bite a postman on the buttocks, a court heard.
Robert Hay, 71, is accused of letting his two dogs run wild in the grounds of 11thcentury Bickleigh Castle in Devon.
One of them, a black labrador called Rona, injured postman Mark Peters by biting him on the backside on October 7 last year.
A day earlier, a second labrador named Doublee also snapped at the postie, Exeter magistrates’ court heard yesterday.
Hay, a property agent, is also accused of breaching a dog control order which was enforced after Doublee bruised the nose of a teenage waiter working at the castle during a wedding in 2015.
Prosecutor Sonia Croft said the latest allegation against Rona was ‘that she bit someone and caused injury to their buttocks’, which was an aggravated offence.
She claimed the charges involving Doublee were brought by police after the dog ‘ snapped at someone delivering the post’.
It was alleged that Hay had breached the January 2016 court order stipulating that Doublee should be muzzled in public areas following the previous incident.
Hay’s barrister Simon Morgan said the injury to the postman was ‘not the most serious’ although conceded it may have been ‘uncomfortable’. He asked for an adjournment, stressing the need for ‘an expert’s position’ about the risks the animal presents. Hay’s wife Sarah, who was in the public gallery during the hearing, said at the time of the case involving Doublee in 2016: ‘Three thousand people have been here and Doublee has never had a single incident like this.’ The Hays bought Bickleigh Castle, a fortified manor house on the banks of the River Exe near Tiverton, and its estate 15 years ago.
Parts of the castle date back to the 11th century.
Charles I’s queen Henrietta Maria stayed there before fleeing to France during the Civil War. The buildings fell into disrepair before they were restored early in the 20th century.
The grounds are now used to host five-star wedding ceremonies. The Hays have hosted more than 300 events since they bought the property, and also offer bed and breakfast accommodation, hire of the castle and house parties.
Mrs Hay spent £250,000 refurbishing the castle’s non-family areas to become a permanent wedding venue.
Yesterday, the case was adjourned until April.