Claire Neal (pictured) has admitted having a dangerous dog out of control

A dog owner who cried 'oh no not again' when her Staffordshire Bull Terrier mauled 12 children in a 'horror' playground attack is facing jail.

Claire Neal's brown and white dog Marley was already subject to a destruction order after biting a group of children in 2015.

But the 38-year-old let it escape from her home again in May last year, when it managed to get into a play park in Blyth, Northumberland.

She initially denied the dangerous dog charges, claiming the dog belonged to the authorities after the 2015 attack.

But at Newcastle Crown Court she changed her plea to guilty.

During the previous trial, aborted for legal reasons, Neal was banned from keeping dogs and Marley ordered to be put down.

But a parent told this month's hearing how his step-daughter was injured in the frenzied attack in the Burns Avenue playground, Blyth, just months later on May 18 last year.

Describing the scene he said: 'Children were scattered about left right and centre.

'It was chaos, kids and adults everywhere. People were screaming and crying.

'It was mostly kids but adults were screaming too. When I pulled up I saw a Staffordshire Terrier tied to the fence.

Despite already being subject to a destruction order, her dog Marley was allowed to escape and attacked 12 children in a park. Their injuries (pictured) were so bad some were rushed to hospital

'I asked everyone 'was that the dog that bit the children'.

'I looked at the dog and thought it couldn't have been that dog as it was too small and friendly.

'It was tied to the fence but did not look in distress. But I saw blood on it's mouth. On its teeth and tongue.'

The court heard how the man's child had been bitten by the dog and rushed to hospital to have her wounds cleaned.

The witness continued: 'It looked like Swiss cheese with so many puncture wounds and there was a gash. It was deep.'

The court was told how the concerned parent found out the dog's address from social media, and went to talk to the owners what had happened.

The attack took place in a park (pictured) in Blyth, Northumberland in May last year

Describing the scene, a stepfather of one of the injured children said it was 'horrific'

The witness continued: 'Claire Neal came out. She started crying and said 'oh no, not again'.

'She said she gave the dog away to someone in the Gosforth area.'

Another witness who saw the attack said at the time it was like a 'horror scene'.

Neal will be sentenced next month but has been warned she faces a jail term.

Judge Sarah Mallet remanded her in custody and warned: 'A sentence of imprisonment is inevitable.'

Leanne Patterson, 35, of Blyth, who was at the house alone with the dog when it got out, had been due to face trial for being in charge of the animal when it caused injury but the case against her will be dropped at the next hearing.