Two dogs that attacked and killed a pensioner in her own garden were under the control of a guy who has pleaded guilty.
After being assaulted by the two American bulldogs and receiving a neck wound, Lucille Downer, 85, passed away in April 2021.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Darren Pritchard, 44, entered a guilty plea to having two dogs that were “dangerously out of control.”
In addition, he admitted to growing marijuana on the same Rowley Regis, West Midlands, street with the purpose to sell it.
Pritchard, of Merrivale Road in Smethwick, West Midlands, has been granted conditional bail until his sentencing on May 15.
Judge Michael Chambers KC told him: ‘You have had the courage to plead guilty to these matters and you will get appropriate credit (for pleading guilty) in due course.
‘But they are clearly serious matters which cross the custodial threshold so you should be under no illusion as to the likely sentence.’
The facts of the case were not opened by prosecutor Howard Searle during the hearing, which was told Pritchard had been ‘out of trouble since 2013’ at the time of Ms Downer’s death.
Ms Downer moved to the UK from Jamaica in her early 20s and was a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
During her working years she worked as a cook at a care home in West Bromwich.
West Midlands Police said at the time that she suffered multiple injuries during the ‘sustained’ attack after the dogs escaped from a nearby property through a hole in a fence.
Her family said in a statement that they would ‘miss her dearly’.
Both dogs were handed over to police voluntarily at the time of the attack, but after receiving specialist advice they were put down as it was decided they could never be rehomed due to the violent act, the Independent reports.