Manslaughter charge gran: I relive the death of Ellie every day

Sep 6 2007 by Deborah James, Liverpool Daily Post

ELLIE LAWRENSON’S grandmother told police she relived the moment the five-year-old girl was mauled to death by a dog every day.

Jacqueline Simpson, 45, told detectives she wrestled with the pit bull terrier as it savaged her granddaughter during the attack which she thought lasted around 20 minutes.

Simpson, of Knowles House Avenue, St Helens, denies manslaughter by gross negligence.

Liverpool Crown Court heard she was looking after little Ellie while her parents celebrated New Year.

Simpson told police she let the dog, called Reuben, into the house during the early hours of January 1 because it looked scared and was whimpering.

The court heard a statement given to officers by Simpson, who admitted she has smoked cannabis for 25 years and had up to 10 cannabis joints a day, and was almost twice the legal drink-drive limit at the time of the dog attack.

The prosecution claim Simpson broke a family rule by letting the dog in when the child was there, despite knowing it had bitten her own daughter Kelsey, 20, in November, 2006.

Simpson, a former taxi driver, was interviewed by Det Sgt Gail Rooney.

She said she was taking sleeping tablets and said: “You don’t sleep, you relive it every time you shut your eyes.”

Simpson described how she let the pet into the house and it went for Ellie, grabbing her by the throat and shaking her around.

The police officer asked Simpson how long the attack lasted, and she replied: “It seemed like ages.

“It seemed like it just wasn’t going to stop, maybe 20 minutes or 25 minutes, I don’t know. It was just surreal.

“I don’t want to be here.

“Our Ellie was the light of my life. Now she’s gone.

“I never knew you could have a broken heart.”

The court heard Ellie had suffered 72 separate injuries and died as a result of head and neck injuries.

The jury of seven men and five women also heard descriptions of the horrific scene which faced the emergency services following the attack.

Trainee paramedic KaiFarmer said he found Ellie’s dead body in the living room and an injured Simpson lying in a foetal position in the kitchen.

He covered the little girl’s body with a blanket and led Simpson to an ambulance, in which she travelled to hosp- ital, crying and continually asking: “Why would a dog do something like that?”

Sergeant Paul Hudson was one of the fist police officers on the scene and he told the court in a statement: “The living room floor was awash with blood.

“I heard the dog in the garden and was concerned for our safety if it got in. It appeared frenzied, barking and baring its teeth at me.

“I was worried that it could run at the window and easily break the glass.”

He summoned armed assistance and the dog was shot dead by a trained firearms officer.

Dog expert PC Peter Tallack told the court he examined the dog’s dead body the day after the fatal attack. He said it was devoid of fat, with unusually well-developed neck muscles and it had immeasurable strength to bite and shake.

The case continues.