Pensioner ‘left with 10 XL bully dogs weighing 190kg before she was killed’

A pensioner who had ‘restricted’ movement was left in charge of a pack of 10 XL bully dogs with a combined weight of 190 kg (400lbs) before she was killed, a court has heard.

Ashley Warren has been accused of owning two XL bully dogs that mauled Esther Martin, 68, to death in what has been called a ‘tragedy waiting to happen’.

Warren, 41, left Ms Martin with the two dogs, named Beauty and Bear, and eight puppies of the same breed, at his home in Jaywick, Essex, on February 3, 2024.

Jurors previously heard that the aspiring rapper had asked Ms Martin, who was 5ft 3in, to mind the animals so he could travel to London to film a music video.

Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC said Ms Martin had ‘restricted’ movement after a hip replacement, arthritis and a limp, suggesting it was a ‘ludicrous’ to say she could be considered able to control the dogs.

He said the combined weight of the pack was around 400 pounds, with the dogs being described as ‘unpredictable, towering, and muscular’.

The two adult dogs weighed 83 and 103 pounds, and each of the eight puppies was between 20 to 26lbs, the court heard.

Given that Warren had known Ms Martin for more than 12 years, prosecutor Paxton said he would have been aware of her mobility issues and had ‘no basis’ to think she could control the dogs.

‘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,’ he told the court.

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

Jurors heard Ms Martin sustained a minimum of 60 mostly dog-related injuries before her death, and that the animals had not been walked for four weeks before the attack.

The mauling came two days after the Government made it a criminal offence to own an XL bully in England and Wales without a certificate of exemption.

Warren, now of Addlestone, Surrey, has pleaded not guilty to being the owner of a dog named Bear, which caused injury resulting in death while dangerously out of control in a private place, and to being a person in charge of a dog named Beauty, which did the same.

He has also denied having a bladed article without good reason or lawful authority at Clacton railway station on February 3, 2024.

The defendant, wearing a pink shirt, sat in the dock with his head bowed during Monday’s hearing.

The trial continues.

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