An aspiring rapper whose two XL bully dogs mauled a grandma to death had told police less than two weeks before the attack that poodles were a more aggressive breed than his pets.
Ashley Warren, 41, is accused of owning or being in charge of two XL bully dogs that killed 68-year-old Esther Martin. The pensioner’s death was a “tragedy waiting to happen”, jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court were told today.
Warren had left Ms Martin with the two dogs, named Beauty and Bear, and eight puppies of the same breed, at his home on Hillman Avenue in Jaywick, Essex, on February 3, 2024. A child was also in the property. CCTV footage shown to the jury captured the dogs barking and the victim and child screaming as the attack unfolded.
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 had not attempted to get a certificate for any of the 10 dogs in the property, the court heard.
The defendant asked the 5ft 3in woman to mind the animals so that he could travel to London to film a music video, prosecutor Chris Paxton KC said.
This was despite her mobility issues, lack of dog training and “little to no experience” of being left alone with them for a prolonged period time, he added.
Hours after her arrival she sustained “dozens and dozens” of injuries, including a bite through the tissue of her arm and a “complete fracturing” of the bone, the court heard.
The prosecutor said: “Ashley Warren expected Esther to be able to handle and control these two adult XL bully dogs, as well as their eight puppies, with the weight, size, power and unpredictability they possessed, with no or minimal training.
“Given Esther’s age and her mobility issues, as well as other factors, Esther was clearly not a fit and proper person to look after these 10 dogs in that situation, but no doubt, members of the jury, it suited this defendant to have her do so, so he could pursue his own agenda that day.
“It was, you may think, a tragedy waiting to happen, given the imbalance that arose between 68-year-old Esther, short in stature, and the towering power of these banned XL bully dogs.”
He also told jurors: “Such was the ferocity of the dogs that police officers and emergency services were unable to enter the home until the police deployed and used their tasers.”
An officer who went to the property “formed the view it was not safe to enter the house, believing that (police) were at risk of death or serious injury if they tried to enter” as the dogs were “in a frenzied state”, the prosecutor told jurors.
The defendant was aware of the XL bully ban, which had been widely covered in the press in the months prior.
Police went to the property about an unrelated matter 11 days before the attack, and a video recording, played to jurors, showed Warren telling the officer “it’s a shame about the laws” and “my boy’s got papers already”.
Mr Paxton said: “If that was a reference to an exemption certificate, that was a lie.”
In the footage, XL bullies play as the defendant tells the officer that the public perception of the breed is “mad to me”.
He adds: “These dogs are so friendly it’s unbelievable, it’s like I’ve only seen them ever attack people when (they’re attacked).”
He also told the officer: “You get them little poodles that come up to you and go rah, rah, rah, you know – they’re more aggressive.”
Jurors heard that on January 1 that year Warren told his landlord, Barry Gordon, that police were aware he kept XL bullies. He also lied to Mr Gordon by saying he had applied for a licence, the court heard.
Warren 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.
He also denies being a person in charge of a dog named Beauty, which caused injury resulting in death while dangerously out of control in a private place.
The prosecution said Warren accepts that he owned Bear and was in charge of Beauty, which was his girlfriend’s dog and which he had been housing, feeding and looking after.
He also accepts that both dogs were dangerously out of control in his house, the court heard.
The defendant denies the charge on the grounds that he reasonably believed Ms Martin was a “fit and proper person to be in charge” of them, Mr Paxton said.
Warren also denies having a bladed article without good reason or lawful authority at Clacton railway station on February 3, 2024.
The defendant accepts that he had a knife but is to argue that it was a prop in a music video that he had been making that day in London, the court heard.
