£1,000 fine sent to woman two years after dog strayed on path

Karen Goodwin says she was shocked to receive the fine

A woman was threatened with a £1,000 fine two years after her dog stepped on to a path while it was off its lead.

Karen Goodwin, 58, thought she could cross a pavement in Rhyl, Denbighshire, with Tilly to retrieve her ball which had rolled on to the beach.

But she was given a £100 fine on 19 December 2019 and said she was told "Merry Christmas" with a "smirk" by the enforcement officer.

Denbighshire council cancelled the fine and admitted a mistake had been made.

Despite pleas that Tilly had stepped on the path on Rhyl's East Parade for a second, Ms Goodwin was fined by an enforcement officer.

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At the time she said she was allowed to walk her unleashed dog on the grass and the beach, had to keep her on a lead while on the path.

Ms Goodwin received a letter noting the fine 26 months after the incident

She dismissed the fine and heard nothing more about it until she received a letter from the council on 9 February 2022.

It told her she faced legal proceedings and a maximum £1,000 fine and £150 court costs, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"I was shocked. I was thinking it was one thing after another, so I panicked," Ms Goodwin said.

I was thinking 'if I don't pay this, I'll have to go to court'. I was struggling as it is."

It was not until councillor Paul Penlington intervened on her behalf that the fine was cancelled.

The council admitted an error had been made and apologised, saying: "We continue to have public feedback which does support enforcement activity taking place in areas identified as dog fouling hotspots.

"We are sorry for any distress caused by the reminder letter sent to the resident which was the result of a clerical error by District Enforcement. This matter has now been resolved."

District Enforcement said Ms Goodwin had correctly been issued a fixed penalty notice for breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSO) in 2019 but the six-month "time frame to prosecute" expired due to the situation surrounding Covid.

"The letter that Ms Goodwin received on 9 February 2022 was accidentally sent because of an IT system update," managing director Dyl Jurpil added.

"Since then, we have been in contact with Ms Goodwin to explain and confirm that there is no further legal action against the FPN that was issued in 2019."

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