Hartlepool woman is hundreds of pounds out of pocket after she was taken to Teesside Magistrates' Court for failing to clear up dog dirt

Adrianne Groom, 21, of Jackson Street, off Oxford Road, in Hartlepool, was taken to court after she was accused of failing “without reasonable excuse” to remove faeces left on a rear alley after a dog had defecated.

She was charged under section 67 and 68 of the Anti Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act of 2014.

Groom, who did not appear at Middlesbrough’s Teesside Magistrates’ Court for the hearing at the end of last month, was found guilty of the offence in her absence and was ordered to pay a £220 fine, £88 victim surcharge and £120 prosecution courts.

The £428 total must be paid by March 22.

Hartlepool Borough Council took the case to court after the offence was committed on July 5 of last year.