THE owner of two rottweilers wept in court when magistrates cleared the animals of savaging a postman.

The dogs' owner Dawn Knight had compiled a mountain of evidence to prove rottweilers Storm and Shadow were innocent.

Consett magistrates decided the dogs had not attacked postman Ivan Pye.

Mrs Knight brought two dog psychologists to give evidence and had even tried to get an x-ray of 11 and a half stone Storm's jaw to prove he could not have bitten Mr Pye.

Mrs Knight, 32, a mother-of-two and her husband, Graham, 33, also considered getting the dogs DNA tested and obtained statements from most of their neighbours at James Street, Shield Row, in defence of their dogs.

Both the dog specialists in court not only defended Storm and Shadow but the name of rottweilers as a breed which, they said, had wrongly been described as 'devil dogs.'

Consett magistrates said Mr Pye's evidence was vague and inconsistent with his earlier police statement, before formally dismissing the case.

Mr Pye had alleged that he had been bitten by Storm last May while delivering letters. He said the dog had unexpectedly leapt up at him knocking him to the ground and biting his right hand. Only a fun fight between the dogs had saved him.

Speaking through her tears and hugging her husband after the case Mrs Knight said: "We have had seven months of hell and it has put a huge amount of stress on our relationship.

"I know other owners might simply have destroyed their dogs but I just knew this was not true.

"We were prepared to get x-rays and plaster casts of the dogs' jaws to prove the supposed bite marks were inconsistent with Mr Pye's but our vet advised against it."

The court heard that both dogs had undergone months of good behaviour training with dog behaviourist and member of the British Institute of Dog Trainers, Michelle Westwood, who gave evidence.

Mr Pye, 38, of Tantobie, who underwent counselling and had three months off work with shock after the alleged incident, said he was disappointed with the decision.

He said: "I wasn't suing or anything I wasn't going to get anything out of it. What if these dogs go on to savage a child or something like that?