Rapper facing jail after gran mauled to death while looking after his 10 XL bullies

An aspiring rapper whose XL bullies mauled a pensioner to death is facing jail.

Ashley Warren, 41, left 68-year-old Esther Martin at his home in Jaywick, Essex, with 10 of the dogs on February 3, 2024 – two days after the breed was banned in the UK.

She suffered ‘dozens and dozens’ of bite wounds, including one which ‘completely fractured’ her arm, and police with riot shields had to taser the animals before considering it safe enough to enter.

Jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court heard Mrs Martin’s death was ‘a tragedy waiting to happen’.

Warren was today found guilty of owning an XL bully dog called Bear which mauled Mrs Martin to death while dangerously out of control.

He was cleared of being in charge of another XL bully called Beauty, which also injured her.

Jurors watched a Ring doorbell clip from days earlier showing Warren struggling to pull one of the adult dogs back to his home after it escaped.

Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC said: ‘If the defendant struggled, how would the 5ft 3in 68-year-old Esther Martin cope with these XL bully dogs?’

He said the ‘combined weight of the pack’ was between 180kg to 190kg and the dogs were ‘unpredictable, towering, muscular’ animals.

‘In old money that’s about 26 to 28 stone, not of static Roman statues but living, writhing, fighting dogs,’ he added.

Mrs Martin, on the other hand, had ‘restricted’ movement after a hip replacement, as well as arthritis and a limp, meaning it was ‘ludicrous’ to suggest she was a ‘fit and proper person’ to control them.

Warren, now of Addlestone, Surrey, was convicted of being the owner of a dog named Bear which caused injury resulting in death while dangerously out of control in a private place, and to being a person in charge of a dog named Beauty which did the same.

The court heard Warren asked Mrs Martin to mind the animals so that he could travel to London to film a music video.

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.

Mr Paxton 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 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 said the dogs were ‘in a frenzied state’ and ‘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’.

Warren told jurors he ‘never thought in a million years’ the ‘loving, friendly’ dogs would attack someone.

Giving evidence, he said the animals ‘weren’t raised to attack or bite’, adding: ‘I never seen this coming in a million years. I would never have left Esther with the dogs if I thought they were dangerous.’

He continued: ‘She knew the dogs. I never thought for one second this would happen. They were always loving dogs.’

Defence barrister Allan Compton KC asked Warren: ‘Knowing then you cannot walk them unless they’re neutered, muzzled and leashed, why didn’t you get on with it?’

Warren said: ‘I’m on PIP (benefits) – most of the times if I want something I have to save for it.

‘I can’t just go and get it. I don’t have a lot of money.’

Mr Paxton suggested to Warren that the cost of a muzzle was around £20, and Warren said: ‘I know the price of a muzzle – I know they were cheap.’

The prosecutor asked how much his train ticket to London was, and Warren replied: ‘£40.’

Warren also denied having a bladed article without good reason or lawful authority at Clacton railway station on February 3, 2024, but was convicted.

He accepted having a knife but argued it was a prop in a music video that he had been making that day in London.

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