A pet owner has been ordered to pay £500 damages after two dogs mauled a lamb to death and injured other sheep.

Jason Richardson, 39, was charged after his border collie named Jack, and a female doberman he was looking after for a friend, ran into a farmer's field and suddenly began attacking a flock of pedigree sheep.

During the incident one of the lambs was said to have been left 'massacred' and was left with his stomach hanging from its body before other sheep, less than a year old, were set upon.

The farmer, who heard distressed bleating and aggressive barking, found one of the flock cornered against a fence with one of the dogs advancing towards it with blood around its mouth. The two dogs ran off when he intervened but were caught by the sheep's owner Paul Whieldon, who was called to the scene.

Mr Whieldon, who keeps the hand reared flock on the farmer's land as ''pets'' rather than farm animals, was bitten on the right hand by the border collie as he tethered it to a gate.

Tests revealed the dead lamb had suffered fatal injuries to its shoulder and front leg. A second lamb was bitten on stomach, back and leg and the others had bite marks on backs and legs causing the sheep to walk with a limp and back legs bent. They were treated with penicillin by a vet.

Mr Whieldon was said to be ''extremely upset and angry'' by the incident and left the scene to avoid a confrontation.

Richardson, who lives in the rural village of Rainow near Macclesfield, later apologised but said he was unaware the dogs had ventured into the fields 600 metres away from his home, and claimed Jack was on 'heat' at the time.

At Stockport Magistrates Court, he admitted being in charge of dogs which worried livestock under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 plus owning a dog dangerously out of control causing injury and was ordered to pay £300 compensation to Mr Whieldon and £200 to the farmer.

He was also ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work and also pay £175 in costs.

The seven-year-old Border Collie which has been confined to a stable on Richardson's land was made subjected of ''contingency destruction order'' which means he must be muzzled and kept on a lead in public and banned from all farmers fields. The doberman dog called Petra is back with its master.

The incident occurred on October 6 last year after Richardson had allowed the dogs out of his home.

Miss Eileen Rogers prosecuting said: ''The incident lasted about 45 minutes after two dogs under Mr Richardson’s control were let out with no lead and went wandering around the field.

''They worried the sheep then began attacking one of them. They killed that sheep and was seen attacking others by members of the public.

"The farmer heard aggressive barking and looked out to see number of sheep appearing to be quite agitated, shaken and shocked.

(Image: Paul Whieldon/ Cavendish Press)

''He could see a number of clumps of fleece in the area as they had been bitten and there was two dogs in the field continually barking. He approached and saw immediately one of the dogs had cornered a lone sheep.

''The sheep was trying to escape and was petrified. He shouted at the dogs to stop and they backed off. They appeared to cower as if they knew they did wrong. The farmer saw the sheep lying on the floor completely massacred and other sheep also had injuries and contacted the owner of the animals. There was blood around the mouth of the dogs.

''One of the local farmers was trying to scan the dogs for microchips and by this time the sheep's owner had arrived but he was bitten on the hand by the Border Collie causing some puncture marks and wounds. Mr Richardson did turn up and parked his vehicle and went over to see what was going on. He was immediately apologetic and said he owned one of the dogs and was in control of the other.

''He was offering cash and apologised multiple times and asked if matters could be settled outside of court. He promised he would not let the dogs out again and said he only normally let the dogs out to go to the bathroom.

''This incident should have been avoided and the dogs should not have been allowed onto private land where sheep often are enclosed. He knows the area and should keep the dogs tethered.

''The owner of the sheep had to see the bite marks on the sheep's back and saw other sheep completely desecrated by the attack. The injuries were described as catastrophic. If the dogs hadn’t been let out nothing of this nature would have happened causing great distress and shock to all concerned.''

In a statement Mr Whieldon said: ''Since the incident there’s been a lot of discussion about these particular dogs and I want to prosecute owner for the injuries they gave to my lambs.''

Representing himself Richardson showed pictures of Jack to JPs and said: ''I am devastated about the damage to the livestock and those poor animals. My dog is not an aggressive animal - he is a friendly dog that is in his nature and I don’t let him off out of my sight.

''At the moment he’s in a stable with a padlock in it just in case anyone does let him out. He’s on a lead and I’m not taking any chances now. The other dog has gone back to his owner. He’s an associate of my boss that’s how I know him.

''I had only let Jack out at night to stretch his legs and go to the bathroom. My dog itself never goes out off the boundaries but on this occasion he was chasing the doberman bitch. His behaviour was obviously down to him chasing the doberman as he was on heat. His behaviour was back to normal after the doberman went back to its owner.

''I can only apologise to the owner of the sheep for the distress this has caused to him. Jack is secure from escape now and always on a lead. I don’t let him out, I’m not taking that chance now.''

Sentencing magistrates chairman Gary Palmer told Richardson: ''This was a particularly nasty attack by the dogs.''