Rapper jailed for 10 years after his XL bully mauled grandmother to death

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 – a dog which belonged to his girlfriend – which did the same.

Warren, now of Addlestone, Surrey, was sentenced at the same court on Tuesday.

His earlier trial was told that 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.

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.

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