A woman whose dog attacked a five-year-old girl in a Lisson Grove school playground has been spared jail.

Tara Fairall, 35, was picking up her son from St Edward’s Primary when the Staffordshire Bull Terrier jumped up and attacked the child last November. The dog was on a lead.

The girl suffered four facial wounds, including a 2cm cut which needed four stitches. She was later referred for plastic surgery.

Fairall, of Orchardson Street, had taken the pet onto the school premises despite signs indicating no dogs were allowed.

In a statement, read at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, the child’s mother said: “I saw the dog jump at my child and put both of its front paws on her.

“My daughter put her hands up to her face and turned away. I then saw my daughter was bleeding and I began to scream. I looked at her face and could see nothing but blood on the left side.”

Stuart Harris, defending, said Fairall had since taken the pet to Battersea Dogs Home and no longer wanted to own a dog. She was described as “emotional and very apologetic” when interviewed by police and is now on anti-depressants.

Fairall admitted allowing her dog to be dangerously out of control.

She was placed under supervision for two years and ordered to pay more than �1,000 in compensation.

She was also banned from owning a dog for five years. No order was made to destroy the dog.