It's my fault our pit bull killed Ellie, says drunken grandmother

The grandmother of a girl killed by a pit bull terrier dramatically admitted responsibility for the five-year-old's death.

Jacqueline Simpson, 45, said it was her fault little Ellie was savaged to death by the dog because she had let it into her home.

She had drunk two bottles of wine and smoked up to ten cannabis joints in the hours before the tragedy on New Year's Day.

Ellie was bitten 72 times by the pit bull after it grabbed her by the throat and mauled her to death.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Simpson had pleaded with her 23-year-old son Kiel for months to get rid of the dog.

But she claimed she was powerless to stand up to him.

After almost four hours in the witness box yesterday, Simpson was asked by Neil Flewitt QC, prosecuting, if she accepted she was in any way responsible for Ellie's death.

Simpson replied: "Yes, because I let him (the dog) in. I opened the door, I let him in, it's my fault.

"I never thought that dog would do anything to Ellie."

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Mr Flewitt said: "By letting that dangerous dog in, you let the child down, didn't you?"

"Yes," Simpson whispered.

Mr Flewitt added: "Your better judgment was clouded by the effects of wine and cannabis, so when the dog appeared whimpering at the door you forgot or you overlooked the family rule, put to one side your common sense, and forgot about the dangers that dog posed to people.

"That's what happened, isn't it?

"No," Simpson replied.

The jury were told that the family had a rule that the dog, named Reuben, was not allowed inside the house when Ellie and her baby brother Josh were there.

However, Simpson denied the rule applied when only Ellie was at the house. She said the youngster was still allowed to pat and stroke the dog, even after it attacked her youngest daughter Kelsey, 19, in November 2006.

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The court heard that Simpson's family had been torn apart by the tragedy.

Ellie's mother, Lindsey Simpson, 25, still lives in the house where her daughter died - but Ellie's father, Darren Lawrenson, 31, has moved elsewhere.

Simpson said she has spoken to her son Kiel - who allegedly maltreated the dog by punching and kicking it - just once since the tragedy happened.

She admitted Kiel had told her the dog was a pit bull and that it was illegal to own one as early as February 2006 - nine months before Ellie's death.

The court heard that the attack took place at Simpson's home, in St Helens, Merseyside, around 4.30am on January 1.

Ellie and Josh, then four months old, were staying at their grandmother's house while their parents went out.

The couple, who formerly lived together in Great Sankey, Warrington, had returned to collect their children in the early hours, but Ellie asked to stay with her grandmother and they left without her.

At that time, the court heard, Simpson already knew the dog was unpredictable and dangerous.

Mr Flewitt said: "If you'd have stopped and said to yourself, what might happen to Ellie if that dog had bitten her, you would have realised it could have killed a five-year-old girl."

But Simpson replied: "I never thought for one minute it would attack Ellie. He used to wag his tail when she was around. It was always made up to see her."

Simpson denies manslaughter. The trial continues.