A drug dealer has been jailed for more than four years after admitting owning two dangerous dogs which savaged a pensioner to death in her own home. Darren Pritchard, 44, faced a court after his pair of American bulldogs attacked 85-year-old Lucille Downer in April 2021.
The pensioner was viciously mauled to death by the out-of-control dogs, which burst into her garden and clung to her neck "like they would a toy". A family member rushed to her aid, but nothing could be done to save the great-grandmother at her home on Boundary Avenue, Rowley Regis, West Midlands.
Pritchard, of Smethwick, previously pleaded guilty to an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act. He admitted owning two ‘dangerously out of control dogs' and also producing and possessing cannabis with intent to supply. On Tuesday he was jailed for 57 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Lucille's family said in a statement afterwards: “We are happy that Darren took accountability for the death of Lucille and pleaded guilty. Whilst the sentencing acts as a punishment for the death caused, it will not bring Lucille back to us. All we can hope as a family, is that over time, the traumatic memory of events will fade and that Lucille will continue to live on in our memories being the lady that we remember her to be.”
Police rushed to Lucille's home at around 3.20pm on Good Friday, on April 2, 2021, when the dogs escaped from a neighbouring property through a hole in the fence. Retired cook Lucille couldn't be saved and was declared dead at the scene after suffering "multiple" injuries.
A post-mortem gave her cause of death as a neck injury caused by a dog bite. West Midlands Police revealed that the two dangerous dogs had been "humanely destroyed" as they could not be rehomed.
A force spokesperson added: "The ownership of two dogs was voluntarily transferred to police at the time of the incident. Following specialist advice it was established the dogs could never be rehomed due to the violent act and they were humanely destroyed."
Lucille had lived in Rowley Regis since moving to the UK from Jamaica in her early 20s.
In a statement, her family said previously: "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.”
A dog walker who regularly visits the street told previously how the dogs had broken through a back fence panel and set upon the OAP. The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had spoken to the elderly lady's neighbour in the aftermath of the attack.
He said: “From what I’ve heard the dogs were kept locked up and never walked. I never saw them ever be walked.
“Her neighbour said they had just had a new fence put in as well and the dogs managed to destroy a panel at the back of the shed and got into her garden and they never left. Apparently they went for her throat like a dog would with a toy. It’s truly horrific."
Another neighbour said: "They were monstrous beasts by all accounts. The poor lady stood no chance."
