Police wait to interview family after uncle's dog kills girl

A post mortem examination on Ellie revealed she died of "severe head and neck injuries", police said.

Owners of pure-bred pitbull terriers are legally to blame for attacks made by them under the provisions of the UK's 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.

The tragic death of a child described as “the loveliest girl you could ever meet” has left her community in shock. She lived at Knowles House Avenue, in St Helens, Merseyside.

The dog’s owner – Ellie’s uncle – had been officially warned about his pet’s behaviour in June last year.

A spokeswoman for St Helens Council said the warning letter had been sent to the uncle, named locally as Kiel Simpson, after a neighbour said the animal had attacked his dog in May.

Several people on the council estate are reported to have said the animal had violent tendencies and at least one other neighbour claimed he and his dog were attacked by Reuben.

Jackie Simpson, 46, had been baby-sitting her granddaughter while the mother, named locally as Lyndsay, was out celebrating New Year.

Ms Simpson also suffered serious injuries in the deadly assault.

She underwent emergency surgery to tendons in her arm and serious wounds to her thumb and elbow at Whiston Hospital yesterday afternoon but is now stable, according to police.

St Helens council and Merseyside Police were last night looking through their records to find out more about the dog’s past.

This morning, they are having what police described as a “routine meeting” about Reuben, which is closed to the public.

The fiancé of Ellie’s other grandmother, who did not wish to be named, said of the family: “They are all in shock, they’re too upset to talk.

“She was just the loveliest girl you could hope to meet…We can’t deal with all this attention, we’re just in shock.”

Some neighbours spoke about how they had seen Ellie stroking the dog in the past and expressed shock that it had attacked her.

But a 69-year-old man who lives in Knowles House Avenue told how he was once attacked by Reuben.

The man, who did not wish to be named, said: “I was walking my dog early one morning sometime in September last year when I was attacked by that animal outside their house.

“It was jumping up at me, really going at me, but I managed to hold it at bay with my walking stick.”

Officers have not yet been able to interview the grandmother or any other family members, who were said to be “too distraught” and “traumatised” to make an official statement.

Details of the attack are therefore sketchy, police said, and the family are unlikely to be able to be interviewed for “some time“.

Officers who rushed to the end-of-terrace house just before 4.30am found the child bleeding to death in the living room where she had been attacked. She died at the scene.

Dog handlers were called to the house and the animal was immediately destroyed.

Ellie’s grandmother shares the house in Knowles House Avenue with Ellie’s uncle and aunt – named as Kelsey Simpson.

Despite her injuries she managed to shut the dog in a run outside the house and phone the emergency services.

It is unknown at this stage whether Ellie was asleep when the dog pounced or what prompted the vicious attack, but officers will be investigating whether fireworks may have scared the animal.

Police believe Ellie’s parents went out to celebrate New Year’s Eve, leaving her with her grandmother. When they returned, Ellie asked to stay at the house.

They are thought to have left the property at around 3.40am, shortly before the attack.

Ellie’s uncle was not at home at the time the dog mauled his niece to death.

Superintendent Jon Ward, operational manager for St Helens region, said: “This is such a tragic incident.

“When a child loses her life in such circumstances, it has an effect on the whole community.”

He said police would be looking into whether any offence had been committed under the Dangerous Dogs Act.