A MUM-of-five died after being bitten by one of her two dogs during a fight over chicken nuggets, an inquest has heard.
Michelle Hempstead, of Southend in Essex, had a Pomeranian dog called Pom and a mastiff rottweiler cross called Trigg.
East Anglia News ServiceMichelle Hempstead passed away in hospital after her dog severed an artery in her arm[/caption]
East Anglia News ServiceMichelle Hempstead, 34, who died after being bitten by one of her dogs at her flat in Southend-on-Sea, Essex[/caption]
A hearing in Chelmsford was told the 34-year-old was throwing chicken nuggets to her dogs in her flat on July 29 last year when Trigg bit her.
The large dog caught an artery in the mum-of-five’s arm when it nipped at the smaller Pomeranian.
Ms Hempstead was rushed to hospital but tragically passed away the next day.
She suffered traumatic blood loss which led to multiple organ failure.
Sadly the family had suffered another tragic loss just weeks before when Ms Hempstead’s daughter passed away.
Returning his conclusion, senior coroner Lincoln Brookes said: “The double tragedy about this is that she and the rest of her family suffered a terrible bereavement only a few weeks beforehand, of the death of her daughter.
“She was still reeling from that.”
At the inquest Samuel West, Ms Hempstead’s partner, told the court that she had bought McDonald’s food and “had a box of, I think, 20 nuggets.”
“She liked to throw them up in the air and the little one, Pom, was going for the big one, not aggressively but he used to growl and snap when he wanted to get the nugget first,” he said.
He added that as Pom went to get a nugget “Trigg’s done this thing where he chomps his mouth.”
He would go on to explain that the larger dog, Trigg, snapped his mouth, saying “It looked to me like it wasn’t a grab.”
Mr West described the tragedy as an “absolute freak accident” and told the court Trigg “didn’t have a bad bone in his body.”
He would go on to explain that Trigg never showed his teeth and would sleep on Ms Hempstead’s bed with her.
Comments made by Ms Hempstead’s partner on police bodycam footage describe the moment Trigg caught the mother’s arm in his jaws.
In the footage Mr West can be heard saying Ms Hempstead “Threw the nugget up in the air – she was just caught in the crossfire.”
Essex senior coroner Lincoln Brookes said Pom “had a go at Trigg” and Trigg “Did go to bite him or snap at him.”
The coroner added: “This is a big dog with big jaws.”
He said he accepted Pom and Trigg were “quite well behaved” and Trigg was “an otherwise gentle giant.”
The senior coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death.
Mr Brookes said: “The bite was not malicious and occurred when she was caught during a brief fight between her two dogs over food.”
The dogs were previously seized from the address and had been “disclaimed for destruction.”
According to guidance from the Metropolitan Police, dogs can be euthanised if they are disclaimed by the owner, which happened in this case as Ms Hempstead was the sole owner.
BPMEssex Coroner’s Court in Chelmsford heard that the dogs were ‘quite well behaved’[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
