A man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a dog mauled a woman to death in south London.
By Heidi Blake 7:27PM GMT 24 Dec 2010
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Barbara Williams, in her 40s, suffered "multiple injuries" during the attack last night, near Sutton in London, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 34-year-old man is being held on suspicion of manslaughter and cultivating cannabis after turning himself into a south London police station this afternoon. Sources said the arrested man was Alex Blackburn-Smith, who is believed to be the owner of the dog.
Ms Williams was mauled in a property in Wallington by the dog, thought to be a Belgian mastiff, on Thursday night. Another woman and a child of five were also in the house at the time of the attack.
Police called to the scene described the animal as "distinctly large" and described how they had to fend it off with riot shields before marksmen arrived to shoot it dead. One puppy was removed from the property.
Paramedics and officers arrived at the property - owned by Mr Blackburn-Smith - where Ms Williams is thought to have been a lodger, to find her ''suffering from multiple dog attack injuries''.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said tonight: "A 34-year-old man has this evening attended a south London police station and has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and suspicion of cultivating cannabis."
Neighbours of the victim said they had warned the authorities about the animal after it broke down a fence connecting their properties.
Burhan Yanbolu who lives in the adjacent house on Demesne Road said he and his wife fell out with their neighbours 18 months ago because of the killer dog.
Mr Yanbolu, a minicab driver, had previously called the police and council to complain about the animal after it smashed their adjoining fence.
"It was going to happen, it was always going to happen," said Mr Yanbolu, a father of twin six-year-old girls.
"I once saw the young boy in the house playing with the mastiff and it was getting too rough so I told the woman who got killed and she said they were just playing."
He added: "We didn't have anything to do with them because of the dog. It was a big strong dog. "
Sutton Council called for tougher dog laws after claiming that it was powerless to act despite being warned about the animal.
A visit by local officials resulted in no action being taken against the Belgian mastiff until today, after it had fatally savaged Ms Williams.
Under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, it is illegal for any breed of dog to be out of control in a public place, but the Act does not cover the private property of the dogs' owners.
As a result, police have been powerless to prosecute owners for some of the most horrific attacks by dogs in recent years.
"The council and the police's Safer Neighbourhood Team were contacted in connection with another smaller dog and damage to a fence at this address in August 2009," said councillor Colin Hall, executive member for environment and climate change.
"At that point there were no legal grounds for the council to intervene on the basis of our statutory powers.
"There were no subsequent complaints."
He added: "Our whole community is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident and our thoughts go out to the victim's family and friends.
"In my opinion, there needs to be stricter control of dog ownership and greater powers of intervention to prevent situations like this happening in the future."
Detective Chief Superintendent Guy Ferguson described the dog as "distinctly large" and said at the time of the attack another woman of similar age to Ms Williams was in the house with a child under five.
"It was a very ferocious dog," he said. "The officers had to use shields to contain the dog."
Belgian mastiffs – which can grow to a height of 32 inches (78cm) and weigh as much as 50kg – are not classified as dangerous under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
The law refers to four kinds of dog which are banned: pit bull terrier; Japanese tosa; dogo Argentino and fila Braziliero.
Belgian mastiffs were originally used to pull carts where they originated and are said to be "calm and obedient" on website dogbreedinfo.com.
This is the latest serious dog attack on a human.
A four-year-old girl was scarred for life in October after being attacked by a Japanese akita dog in Lee-on-Solent, Hants.
In April, 18-month-old Zumer Ahmed died after she was mauled by a crossbreed animal at the family home in Crawley, West Sussex.
And in February last year three-and-a-half-month-old Jadin Joseph Mech was mauled to death by two family dogs at the home of his grandmother, in Ystrad Mynach, south Wales.
By Heidi Blake 7:27PM GMT 24 Dec 2010
=================================================
Barbara Williams, in her 40s, suffered "multiple injuries" during the attack last night, near Sutton in London, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 34-year-old man is being held on suspicion of manslaughter and cultivating cannabis after turning himself into a south London police station this afternoon. Sources said the arrested man was Alex Blackburn-Smith, who is believed to be the owner of the dog.
Ms Williams was mauled in a property in Wallington by the dog, thought to be a Belgian mastiff, on Thursday night. Another woman and a child of five were also in the house at the time of the attack.
Police called to the scene described the animal as "distinctly large" and described how they had to fend it off with riot shields before marksmen arrived to shoot it dead. One puppy was removed from the property.
Paramedics and officers arrived at the property - owned by Mr Blackburn-Smith - where Ms Williams is thought to have been a lodger, to find her ''suffering from multiple dog attack injuries''.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said tonight: "A 34-year-old man has this evening attended a south London police station and has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and suspicion of cultivating cannabis."
Neighbours of the victim said they had warned the authorities about the animal after it broke down a fence connecting their properties.
Burhan Yanbolu who lives in the adjacent house on Demesne Road said he and his wife fell out with their neighbours 18 months ago because of the killer dog.
Mr Yanbolu, a minicab driver, had previously called the police and council to complain about the animal after it smashed their adjoining fence.
"It was going to happen, it was always going to happen," said Mr Yanbolu, a father of twin six-year-old girls.
"I once saw the young boy in the house playing with the mastiff and it was getting too rough so I told the woman who got killed and she said they were just playing."
He added: "We didn't have anything to do with them because of the dog. It was a big strong dog. "
Sutton Council called for tougher dog laws after claiming that it was powerless to act despite being warned about the animal.
A visit by local officials resulted in no action being taken against the Belgian mastiff until today, after it had fatally savaged Ms Williams.
Under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, it is illegal for any breed of dog to be out of control in a public place, but the Act does not cover the private property of the dogs' owners.
As a result, police have been powerless to prosecute owners for some of the most horrific attacks by dogs in recent years.
"The council and the police's Safer Neighbourhood Team were contacted in connection with another smaller dog and damage to a fence at this address in August 2009," said councillor Colin Hall, executive member for environment and climate change.
"At that point there were no legal grounds for the council to intervene on the basis of our statutory powers.
"There were no subsequent complaints."
He added: "Our whole community is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident and our thoughts go out to the victim's family and friends.
"In my opinion, there needs to be stricter control of dog ownership and greater powers of intervention to prevent situations like this happening in the future."
Detective Chief Superintendent Guy Ferguson described the dog as "distinctly large" and said at the time of the attack another woman of similar age to Ms Williams was in the house with a child under five.
"It was a very ferocious dog," he said. "The officers had to use shields to contain the dog."
Belgian mastiffs – which can grow to a height of 32 inches (78cm) and weigh as much as 50kg – are not classified as dangerous under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
The law refers to four kinds of dog which are banned: pit bull terrier; Japanese tosa; dogo Argentino and fila Braziliero.
Belgian mastiffs were originally used to pull carts where they originated and are said to be "calm and obedient" on website dogbreedinfo.com.
This is the latest serious dog attack on a human.
A four-year-old girl was scarred for life in October after being attacked by a Japanese akita dog in Lee-on-Solent, Hants.
In April, 18-month-old Zumer Ahmed died after she was mauled by a crossbreed animal at the family home in Crawley, West Sussex.
And in February last year three-and-a-half-month-old Jadin Joseph Mech was mauled to death by two family dogs at the home of his grandmother, in Ystrad Mynach, south Wales.
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