Woman arrested after young boy dies following attack by bulldog

Animal has been seized by police and placed in kennels

A boy who died after being bitten by a dog was three years old, police said.

Dexter Neal was mauled at a house in a suburban street in Halstead, Essex, at 5.40pm on Thursday.

He was airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge but later died.

A 29-year-old woman has been arrested for allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control and injuring a person, Essex Police said.

She has been released on bail until October 19.

Dexter was attacked at an address in Parker Way in the town, and a police cordon has been placed around the semidetached property.

Phyllis Younger, who has lived in Parker Way for 58 years, said she heard screaming at around 5.45pm, with emergency services arriving shortly afterwards.

The 82-year-old told the Press Association the screaming “did not go on for long” and she was sure they were from a child.

“Now I know what the scream was, it is absolutely awful,” she said, adding: “It was like someone was in pain, definitely – agonising screams. It is terrible.”

Mother-of-five Lisa Smith, 43, who lives in Parker Way, said the family who lived at the address behind the police cordon “kept themselves to themselves” and had not been in the street as long as her other neighbours.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “The boy, who is aged three, was taken to hospital, where he sadly died from his injuries.”

The dog was an American bulldog. It has been seized and put in kennels.

The East of England Ambulance Service said an air ambulance was called to the scene, along with two rapid response vehicles, paramedics and an ambulance.

Picture: PA. Police outside the property in Halstead, Essex, where three-year-old Dexter Neal, inset, was attacked.