Anguish of mum forced to leave her baby’s body to save his brother from killer dog
A MOTHER battling desperately to protect her two sons from an outof-control dog saw her four-monthold baby killed – and had to make the heart-breaking decision to leave his body behind to save her older boy, an inquest heard.
Jade Rogers, 24, was alone in the house with her children when the Staffordshire bull terrier, belonging to her police officer sister, ran into the living room and attacked her 22-month-old son Daniel-Jay Darby.
As she tried to pull the dog off him, it snatched her baby, Archie, from her arms and tossed him about before leaving him lifeless on the floor.
Essex Coroner’s Court heard how Miss Rogers ‘knew instantly’ he was dead but had to continue fighting the animal off her other son while she called 999.
Eventually she managed to barricade the dog in the conservatory until police arrived. But it remained so aggressive Miss Rogers could not move away from the door to let the police in and they had to force entry.
Officers found Archie lying on the floor face down while Daniel, who was left with serious injuries, was sitting on the sofa covered in blood.
Yesterday, coroner Eleanor McGann, who recorded a conclusion of accidental death for Archie, praised Miss Rogers for her bravery in saving her elder son during the ‘hideous’ attack.
The inquest heard how Miss Rogers had only moved into her 31-year-old sister Clare
‘Significant head injuries’
Ferdinand’s house in Chelmsford, which she shared with husband John, the week before the tragedy on October 13.
Mrs Ferdinand, a serving officer with Essex Police, had bought the dog, called Bailey, from a rescue centre four years earlier after its previous owners returned it for biting their other dog.
Detective Inspector Gary Biddle, senior investigating officer, told the inquest Miss Rogers was holding Archie in her arms while on the phone to her partner and the boys’ father, Dan Darby, in the living room. Suddenly Bailey ran into the room growling and began attacking Daniel.
Mr Biddle said: ‘It went straight for Daniel’s head, started biting and shaking his head while she had Archie in her arms. She tried to pull the dog off Daniel. It dropped Daniel and pulled Archie out of her arms.
‘It shook Archie around the room then dropped him. Jade said she knew instantly that Archie was dead.
‘She thought “I can save Daniel”, ran into the kitchen with him, grabbed the phone and dialled 999. The dog was still having a go at Daniel, grabbing him off the kitchen counter. On the 999 call you can hear him attacking Daniel and you can hear Jade shouting and scream- ing, trying to get the dog off.’ He added: ‘Jade did a heroic job removing the dog from the house to a conservatory area.
‘Because of the behaviour of the dog, being very aggressive at the time, Jade barricaded herself against the door to stop the dog getting back into the house. She could not leave the door and let the ambulance service in.
‘Fortunately police attended very quickly. They shouted through the letter box to understand why she couldn’t get to the door and she shouted out why. We were left with no option but to force entry.
‘They saw Archie lying on the floor face down with significant injuries and Daniel sitting on the sofa with significant head injuries in a very upset state.’
The hearing heard it took a team of dog handlers with specialist equipment to remove the dog, which was later put down.
Archie was taken to Colchester General Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4:02pm.
A post-mortem examination at Great Ormond Street Hospital gave Archie’s cause of death as severe head injuries consistent with a dog attack.
Police decided against prosecuting Mr and Mrs Ferdinand after a post-mortem on Bailey concluded the dog had been healthy and wellkept. No concerns had been raised about his behaviour in the time he had lived with the couple.
Detectives traced the previous owners and found they returned him to the rescue centre because he injured their Jack Russell.
The coroner said nobody was to blame for the ‘harrowing’ attack. She said: ‘It’s just one of those hideous things that comes out of the blue, can’t be predicted and, Miss Rogers, I commend you for your bravery fighting off a dog attacking both of your children and you carried on fighting until you were able to get it away from your children.
‘It took a number of officers with specialist equipment to catch it afterwards.’
Adding that there was nothing she could say to comfort Miss Rogers – who suffered minor injuries in the attack – the coroner said: ‘All I can say is it’s heartening that you managed to save one child and I understand he’s now recovering.
‘I hope he’s able to live a happy life, untouched in the future by what could have been appalling injuries. I hope you have some happy memories of Archie’s very brief life and I hope you try to remember the happiness of your family.’
The attack came just two months after Dexter Neal, three, was killed by an American bulldog just 20 miles away in Halstead, Essex.