A JUDGE has said an aspiring rapper showed “a sustained pattern of disregard for the law and the lives and safety of others” when he kept banned dogs in squalid conditions for weeks on end.
Jailing Ashley Warren for ten years for owning a dangerously out of control dog which caused the death of a pensioner, Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson told the defendant he should have foreseen the risk the two adult XL bullies posed to Esther Martin, who had been asked to look after the animals in 2024.
A jury heard Warren had not taken the two XL bullies – called Beauty and Bear – or their eight puppies outside for four weeks before the incident because of impending restrictions on the ownership of the breed.
The new laws came into force on February 1, two days before Mrs Martin was mauled to death by the dogs at an address in Hillman Avenue, Jaywick.
Warren was found guilty of owning one of the dogs, Bear, which caused fatal injuries to Mrs Martin but was cleared of being in charge of Beauty, which was owned by his girlfriend Jade McSeveney.
He had denied both charges.
Sentencing Warren, Justice Johnson said: “You knew the breed was banned but you did not take any steps to comply with the law and the requirements imposed on those who had XL bully dogs.
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“None of the dogs were neutered.
“None were muzzled.
“You did not have any certificates of exemption.
“More than that, you did not properly look after the dogs – they were confined in in too small a space and you had not walked them in the four weeks prior to Esther Martin’s death.
“That greatly increased the risk of aggressive behaviour from them.”
The trial previously heard Warren ignored warnings from both Mrs Martin and her family about the dogs, and said. “They’re my ***ing dogs and I can do what I ****ing want" when he was confronted about it.
Warren later left Mrs Martin, who was only 5ft 3in tall and had a complex medical history, to look after the two XL bullies and eight puppies while he went to London to film a rap video.
The female XL bully Beauty is believed to have leapt up and caused Mrs Martin to fall over and hit her head before Bear attacked her.
The judge told Warren he showed “a continued and sustained disregard of the law, a failure to properly care for the dogs, and an absence even now to show any real insight on your part as to your offending”.
He jailed Warren for a further six months for possessing a knife in a public place – a charge Warren also denied – and passed a destruction order for the weapon.
Warren admitted two counts which were put to him on the day of sentencing of owning a banned breed of dog, and denied two counts of failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the needs of an animal were met.
The judge ordered not guilty verdicts on the latter two charges after the prosecution offered no evidence.
Warren, of Garfield Road, Addlestone, will serve 40 per cent of his sentence before he can be released on licence.
