BRITAIN'S top club for tiny chihuahua dogs has been rocked by a biting row - with a champion show judge wrongly accused of attacking the chairman at a Welsh show near Blackwood.

Chihuahua club secretary Dr Geoff Curr was alleged to have pushed veteran chairwoman Irene Jennings into a puppy pen after pulling her hair at a Blackwood leisure centre.

Veteran Dr Curr, 70, denied manhandling Mrs Jennings at a dog show in front of other judges and chihuahua lovers.

And Mrs Jennings, 65, has now left her top role leading in the club after Dr Curr was cleared in court of the dog show assault.

The court heard how Mrs Jennings turned from a "dream committee member" into a back-biter in the dog club.

And a court heard how the row came to a head at a chihuahua show at Markham, near Blackwood, when Mrs Jennings accused Dr Curr of the assault

Mrs Jennings, 65, claimed Dr Curr pushed her into another woman holding two puppies - and had to be stopped from tumbling backwards into the pen.

Newport Magistrates Court was also told last Thursday that Dr Curr grabbed her "by the back of the neck before frogmarching her out of the show".

Dr Curr, who was secretary of the Chihuahua Club told the court: "Before that I couldn't have thought more highly of her.

"She was kind of like a dream committee member, but in 2014, I began to notice her criticising me personally and the committee in general.

"Irene was going behind our backs with criticism but she wouldn't raise it at committee meetings."

Mrs Jennings told the court that it happened after she asked Dr Curr for money she believed she was owned - and he taunted her with a £20.

She said: 'He took the £20 note out of the tin and waved it under my nose and said: "No I don't think I will, you can wait for a cheque."

"I said: "No I don't think I will" and took it from his hand."

Witness Julie Burgoune told the court: "Geoffrey Curr whacked her on the back and grabbed her collar, you could hear it."

Fellow dog owner Joanne Harris, who was showing her dogs at the show, said: "'I heard raised voices and Mrs Jennings was waving a piece of paper in Dr Curr's face.

"He was asking her to leave because she was causing a scene. He ushered her out with his arms but did not make contact. There was no way he touched her."

The court heard Mr Jennings has since been expelled from the Chihuahua Club for "libellous and slanderous" attacks on committee members

District Judge Richard Williams cleared Dr Curr of assault - and described evidence given by the prosecution witnesses as "unreliable".

He said: "It seems that Mrs Jennings has an agenda and is generally ill disposed towards the defendant.

"It is clear she set out to cause a scene and her account of what happened evolved over time. I evidence to be treated with caution and cannot be relied upon.

"There is no reliable evidence that the defendant took hold of Mrs Jennings in a physical manner."

Mrs Jennings is appealing to the Kennel Club against being expelled.

Speaking after the case, retired education officer Dr Curr, of Ealing, West London, said: "I'm just so relieved it is over and my nine months of hell is at an end.

"I was amazed when I was told I was being taken to court months after the incident."

Dr Curr has been a champion judge for 30 years and is in demand to adjudicate at shows all over the world. He is also a top breeder with 15 British champion chihuahas to his credit.

He added: "This could have damaged by reputation and is was all down to a woman who was obsessed with taking over the club. I have never hit a woman in my life."