Son-in-law in court over XL Bully death of grandmother Esther Martin in Jaywick

A man accused over the death of a woman who was mauled by two XL bully dogs has appeared in court.

Esther Martin, 68, was killed by the dogs – named in court papers as Beauty and Bear – in Jaywick, Essex, in February.

Ashley Warren, 40, appeared before Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he gave no indication of plea to a series of allegations relating to the dogs.

The defendant, of Walnut Road in Leyton, east London, wore a chunky chain round his neck as he listened to proceedings from the secure dock.

Warren, who has tattoos on his face, neck and hands, was represented in court by Ian Clift, who said there would be no indication of plea to two counts of owning or being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death.

Warren, formerly of Hillman Avenue, Jaywick, also gave no indication of plea to two counts of possession or having custody of a fighting dog, and to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act.

Mr Clift said, on behalf of Warren, that there would be a not guilty plea to an allegation of possession of a bladed article, and the defendant chose for his case to go to trial in the crown court.

Presiding magistrate Beverly Davies granted Warren conditional bail until a plea hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on 19 September.

Warren pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a class B drug – cannabis – that he was said to have had with him when he was arrested at the train station in Clacton-on-Sea on 3 February.

Mr Clift said this was a “small amount of cannabis for personal use” for which he was fined £80, made to pay £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £32.

Essex Police previously said the case was the first to be charged since new laws on owning XL bullies came into force earlier this year.

An inquest hearing was told Ms Martin was found unresponsive inside a property in Hillman Avenue and had sustained “unsurvivable” dog bite wounds.

Ms Martin, who was staying at the address in Hillman Avenue but lived in Woodford Green in east London, was found along with “two large dogs”, an inquest was told as proceedings were opened then suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation.

Her medical cause of death was recorded as “dog bite wounds to the upper right limb”.

Two dogs were destroyed at the scene and were later confirmed by Essex Police to be XL bullies.

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