Man charged after grandmother with dementia mauled to death in her garden by two bulldogs

Lucille Downer, 85, was dragged around her back garden “by the neck” by two hulking pitbull-type dogs on Good Friday in 2021.

Neighbours say the animals got into her garden through a hole in the fence of her home in Boundary Avenue in Rowley Regis, near Birmingham.

Emergency crews, including armed police and an air ambulance, scrambled to the property at 3.20pm on April 2 but were unable to save Lucille who died at the scene.

Lucille, who suffered from dementia and spent most of the Covid lockdown in isolation, had been with her family to mark her 86th birthday before she was attacked.

Police say the two dogs were “humanely destroyed” after ownership was voluntarily transferred to officers who concluded, after specialist advice, that the animals could not be rehomed.

Darren Pritchard, 44, has now been charged with being the owner or person in charge of two dogs dangerously out of control, causing injury resulting in death, police said today. 

Pritchard, of Merrivale Road, Smethwick, has also been charged with possession with intent to supply cannabis, and production of cannabis, and will appear at Dudley Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

In a statement released following her death, Lucille's family said: "Lucille was a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who spent her working years as a cook at Bromford House Care Home in West Bromwich.

"Lucille was born in Jamaica and emigrated to the UK in her early 20s.

"Since arriving in the UK, Rowley Regis has always been her home and her family will miss her dearly."

One resident said: “The poor woman was dragged around the garden. Her injuries were on her neck.

“They mauled her neck. It’s just horrendous. The dogs managed to escape through into her garden.”

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