Female pensioner left with 10 XL bullies weighing as much as 190kg earlier than mauling, courtroom hears | EUROtoday

A pensioner with restricted mobility was left answerable for a pack of 10 XL bully canine with a mixed weight of as much as 190kg earlier than she was killed, a courtroom has heard.

Ashley Warren is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court accused of proudly owning or being answerable for two XL bully canine that killed pensioner Esther Martin, 68, in what was described as a “tragedy waiting to happen”.

Mr Warren, 41, left Ms Martin with the 2 canine, named Beauty and Bear, and eight puppies of the identical breed, at his dwelling on Hillman Avenue in Jaywick, Essex, on 3 February 2024.

Jurors beforehand heard that the aspiring rapper had requested Ms Martin, who was 5ft 3in, to thoughts the animals so he may journey to London to movie a music video.

Summing up the case on Monday, prosecutor Chris Paxton KC stated Ms Martin had “restricted” motion after a hip substitute, and arthritis and a limp, which means it was a “ludicrous suggestion” to say she may very well be thought of a “fit and proper person” to regulate the canine.

He stated the “combined weight of the pack” was between 180kg to 190kg and the canine had been “unpredictable, towering, muscular” animals.

“In old money that’s about 26 to 28 stone, not of static Roman statues but living, writhing, fighting dogs. Dogs described by the defendant as ‘bouncy’,”he added.

The two grownup canine weighed 39kg and 47kg and every of the eight puppies had been between 10kg to 12kg, the courtroom heard.

Given that Mr Warren had identified Ms Martin for greater than 12 years, he would have been conscious of her mobility points and had “no basis” to imagine she may “physically stop the dogs”, Mr Paxton stated.

“The defendant is responsible as the owner of Bear, and being in charge of Beauty, because no-one, no-one could reasonably believe that Esther Martin was a fit and proper person.

“No-one would reasonably believe that Esther could control those dogs with the physicality and power that they clearly possessed, never mind the fact that there was not just one adult XL bully dog but two, with eight puppies in tow.

“Such was the ferocity of the dogs that police officers were unable to enter the home until they had deployed Tasers, entering not just with Tasers but with shields,” the prosecutor added.

Jurors heard Ms Martin sustained a minimal of 60 principally dog-related accidents earlier than her demise and that the animals had not been walked for 4 weeks earlier than the assault.

The mauling got here two days after the federal government made it a prison offence to personal an XL bully in England and Wales with no certificates of exemption.

Mr Warren, now of Addlestone, Surrey, has pleaded not responsible to being the proprietor of a canine named Bear which brought on harm leading to demise whereas dangerously uncontrolled in a non-public place, and to being an individual answerable for a canine named Beauty which did the identical.

He has additionally denied having a bladed article with out good cause or lawful authority at Clacton railway station on 3 February 2024.

The defendant, sporting a pink shirt, sat within the dock together with his head bowed throughout Monday’s listening to.

The trial continues.