Killer dogs got in via a gap in fence
THE two dogs that killed a pensioner in her garden had escaped from a neighbouring property through a hole in a fence, police said yesterday.
The 85-year-old woman, who suffered multiple injuries in the ‘horrific’ and ‘sustained’ attack on Friday in the Black Country town of Rowley Regis, was last night named as great-grandmother Lucille Downer.
The owner of the two dogs, a 43-yearold man, was arrested shortly after the incident and has been bailed pending further inquiries. His pets were tranquillised and taken to nearby kennels, where they are being tested to determine their breed.
Yesterday, floral tributes were left on the victim’s drive, with one displaying the message ‘RIP Nan’.
In a statement, her family said: ‘Lucille was a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who spent her working years as a cook at Bromford House Care Home in West Bromwich. Lucille was born in Jamaica and emigrated to the UK in her early 20s. Since arriving in the UK, Rowley Regis has always been her home and her family will miss her dearly.’
Neighbours quickly rushed to her aid during the attack, but were too late to save her and she was confirmed dead at the scene.
At a press conference yesterday, Superintendent Phil Asquith, of West Midlands Police, described the incident as a ‘fairly sustained attack’ but declined to give details of the victim’s injuries. He added: ‘Fortunately, these types of incidents are rare. This presented no wider threat to the public. It was a hole in adjacent premises so they weren’t running in the streets.’
He declined to speculate about the breed of dog until DNA samples had been analysed to establish if they were banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act. The owner has been arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.
GREAT to see Dara Huang putting her expertise as an architect to good use – she’s contemplating turning an old church or warehouse into a stunning new home. Dara, 38, who has a five-year-old son, Wolfie, with Edo Mapelli Mozzi, the husband of Princess Beatrice, has a new boyfriend and the pair have been property hunting near Kensington Palace.
Meanwhile, I gather that Dara and Edo’s very modern ‘birdnesting’ arrangement with Wolfie – in which they take turns to stay at a house with the youngster, so as not to upset his routine – ended when Dara moved into her wealthy boyfriend’s flat in Knightsbridge last year. She now says: ‘I have been looking to buy something in London and convert it into a home. A warehouse, shed or church… a large space for my future family.’
DAVID WALLIAMS’S ex is praying for a belated wedding gift… from the Prince of Wales.
Sylvia Flote, who married Lord Oakeshott’s son Luke last weekend, is fighting plans by the Duchy of Cornwall to turn a former county court near her home in South London into flats – and hopes the Prince will order his designers to rethink a proposal to add an extra storey.
‘I have a high opinion of Prince Charles and the speeches he’s made about preserving the historic character of London from get-rich-quick architectural vandals,’ says Sylvia, 38, a former Miss Norway contender who dated Walliams in 2017.