A schoolgirl told a courtroom how a dog pinned her down and bit her 16 times during an alleged attack last July.

Now 14-years-old, the teenager recounted how the American akita chewed through a garden fence, tore holes in the trampoline she was playing on, and bit her repeatedly.

The girl, who was 13-years-old at the time, and her cousin, were playing in her garden in Methill, Fife, on July 20 when the alleged attack happened.

Appearing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, she described how the dog, named Chaos, had been barking in a nearby garden before he began to chew a fence post and bite through barbed wire.

The girl told how the dog proceeded to bite holes in the fabric of her trampoline which prompted her to get off and call for help.

She told the court: "He came up and jumped on top of me.

"He put his paw right down my back. I landed on my back and Chaos was trying to bite me on my face.

"I put my hands up to protect myself and he started biting my arms repeatedly.

"I ended up with 13 bites on my left arm and three on my right.

She continued: "I thought I was going to die. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"When I took my jumper off, all I could see were bite marks and blood everywhere. I had to have two operations to clean, stitch and bandage the wounds."

Brian Ralph, the dog's owner, denies charges under the Dangerous Dogs Act of being the owner of a dangerously out of control dog.

The trial, before Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC, continues.