Gran is savaged to death by two ‘unregistered’ XL Bully dogs owned by drill rapper
A GREAT-grandmother has been mauled to death by two suspected unregistered XL Bully dogs.
Esther Martin, 68, had warned the owner that the dogs were dangerous, but was left alone indoors with two adults called Beauty and Bear and six puppies while looking after her 11-yearold grandson on Saturday.
When they attacked, the boy got out and ran for help. Neighbours armed with spades tried to get in to rescue Ms Martin, and one man broke a window with a brick.
The mauling only ended when six police officers entered and shot the animals dead – leaving a scene that was said to have been covered in blood.
The fatal attack came days after a ban on unregistered XL Bullies came into force following a series of attacks.
All eight dogs in the house – in the Essex town of Jaywick Sands, near Clacton – were said to have been unregistered XL Bullies.
Their owner, would-be drill rapper Ashley Warren – the father of Ms Martin’s grandson – had been trying to sell XL puppies at £500 in November. A 39-year-old man known to
‘We heard screaming for ten minutes’
Ms Martin was under arrest last night on suspicion of dangerous dog offences.
Yesterday, Ms Martin’s children Sonia Martin, 47, Paul Martin, 45, and Kelly Fretwell, 46, visited the scene of her death. Miss Martin said one of her sisters, Clare Louise Hayes, the mother of Ms Martin’s grandson, had died two years ago - and their mother, a retired Tesco assistant of Woodford Green, east London, had been worried about the dogs. She added: ‘Mum had raised concerns about the dogs, about them being dangerous and quite aggressive.
‘They were XL Bullies. There were eight in the house, six puppies and two adults. None neutered, not registered. The owner’s words were, “No one is going to tell me what to do with my own f****** dogs”.’
She said her mother – a grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of three – had been told that if the dogs started fighting in the house, she should ‘put a broom in among them’.
Miss Martin went on: ‘That’s when she was attacked. Her grandson was in the house. He ran out screaming for help. If my nephew hadn’t run out, what could have happened to him?’
Ms Fretwell said of mother: ‘She was trying to bring her life back on track after the passing of my sister... and now she is dead.’
Mr Martin said ‘The owner of the bullies decided to go out and leave mum with six XL bully puppies and two adults.’ Neighbour Lucy Shaw, 38, said: ‘We heard dogs barking and someone screaming... like the screaming of a child. That went on for ten minutes. It sounded horrific.’
Local resident Mike Coleman, 74, said: ‘The police came and blocked the road off. I heard the shots of them being destroyed.’ Another said he was too scared to walk past the house, adding: ‘Two dogs were very aggressive, barking and trying to get through the gate.’
Chief Superintendent Glen Pavelin, of Essex Police, said officers entered the house ‘with unflinching bravery’, adding: ‘I would like to thank local people who tried to get into the house to help Esther Martin. You should be proud.’
He said the dogs’ breed had not been established officially. Police can seize unregistered XL Bullies. All XL Bullies must be neutered, microchipped, and kept muzzled and on a lead in public.