Man who owned XL bully dog that fatally mauled woman jailed for 10 years
An aspiring rapper has been jailed for 10 years and three months after he was found guilty of owning one of two XL bully dogs that mauled a pensioner to death.
Prosecutors said Ashley Warren asked 5ft 3in Esther Martin to mind two XL bully dogs at his then home in Jaywick, Essex, so he could travel to London to film a music video. The two animals fatally attacked Ms Martin, 68, on February 3 2024, two days after a ban on the breed came into force on February 1 2024. The law makes it a criminal offence to own or possess an XL bully dog in England and Wales without a certificate of exemption. Warren, 41, was found guilty following an earlier trial of being the owner of a dog named Bear which caused injury resulting in death while dangerously out of control in a private place. He was acquitted at Chelmsford Crown Court of being a person in charge of a dog named Beauty – an animal that belonged to his girlfriend – which did the same. Warren, now of Addlestone, Surrey, was sentenced at the same court on Tuesday. The judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson, said: “Esther Martin was the first person to be killed by an XL bully dog after the new law came into force.” He said that while the law came into force just two days earlier “it had been widely foreshadowed and been advertised for many months before that”. The judge told Warren: “You knew the breed was banned from that date but you didn’t take any steps to comply with the law.” He said the dogs were “confined in too small a space and you hadn’t walked them in the four weeks prior to Esther Martin’s death”. He said this “greatly increased the risk to aggressive behaviour from them”. “This was a sustained and repeated attack lasting at least 12 minutes,” he said. The judge told Warren that his actions “demonstrated a sustained pattern of disregard for the law and for the lives and safety of others”. He sentenced Warren to 10 years in prison for the dog offence and a separate consecutive term of three months for an unrelated offence of possession of a bladed article. There were audible gasps in court as Warren’s sentence was read out, followed by a shout of “yes” from the public gallery. His trial was told he left Ms Martin with the two dogs and eight puppies of the same breed at his then home in Hillman Avenue in Jaywick. Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said this was despite Ms Martin’s mobility issues, lack of dog training and “little to no experience” of being left alone with them for a prolonged period of time. Hours after her arrival Ms Martin 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. Ms Martin’s daughter, Sonia Martin, wept as she read her victim impact statement to the court on Tuesday. “My overriding emotion is pure anger,” she said. “Anger at mum’s death, anger at Ashley Warren for forcing that situation on mum.” She said she was angry that Warren “made social media posts and songs featuring XL bullies and saying he misses them”. There was a disturbance in court as Ms Martin read her statement when a man in the public gallery took issue with a woman sat in the row behind him whom he said was talking. There was shouting and swearing from a number of people and security was called into the courtroom. The judge warned that people needed to remain quiet or leave, before the hearing continued. Continuing her statement, Ms Martin said: “I can’t ever forgive Ashley Warren for his role in my mum’s death and I hold him entirely responsible for the pain she suffered.” During the trial, Mr Paxton told jurors: “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.” Police had been 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.” Warren accepted in court that he did not hold exemption certificates and had not applied for any. The defendant was also found guilty of having a bladed article without good reason or lawful authority at Clacton railway station on February 3 2024, after officers found a knife which he said was a prop in a music video he had been making that day in London. Prosecutor Mr Paxton said Warren had nine previous convictions for 15 offences including for robbery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and affray. Allan Compton KC, mitigating, said Warren’s “genuine belief” having looked after the dogs had been that they “were not aggressive”. “There was nothing in that lived experience to tell him… that they were capable of that reaction that occurred so tragically,” he said. At the outset of the sentencing hearing Warren was asked for pleas to four summary only charges which could not be dealt with as part of the crown court trial. He pleaded guilty to being the owner or custodian of two dogs of a banned breed, Bear and Beauty. He pleaded not guilty to two animal welfare offences relating to the two animals and prosecutor Mr Paxton formally offered no evidence in relation to the animal welfare charges. After he was sentenced, Warren spoke to a woman who approached the dock before he was led to the cells. Speaking outside court, Esther Martin’s daughter Kelly Fretwell said the sentencing “brings a sense of relief and a long-awaited path towards peace for our family”. “While nothing can truly compensate for the loss of our mum, we are grateful the court has recognised the gravity of this tragedy,” she said. Her sister Sonia Martin, who stood with her, thanked their families and friends for “standing by us through our darkest chapter of our lives”. She said her mother had a “great laugh, a wicked sense of humour” and “will be remembered for being a great friend to many, a sister, an aunt, a grandmother and a great grandmother but to us she was and always will be our mum”.
Published: by Radio NewsHub