A three-year-old boy died in a ‘furious and prolonged’ dog attack at a farm after his parents allowed him to wander into a pen unsupervised, a jury heard today.
Daniel Twigg was mauled to death at Carr Farm, in Milnrow, near Rochdale, on May 15, 2022, due to the alleged negligence of his parents Mark Twigg, 43, and Joanne Bedford, 37.
The pair are on trial at Manchester Crown Court accused of Daniel’s manslaughter.
The prosecution claim the toddler was allowed to enter a pen where two large, ‘dangerous’ 50kg dogs – one a Cane Corsa called Sid and another a Boerboel or Boerboel cross named Tiny – were kept.
He entered ‘alone and unsupervised’, it’s alleged, and ‘without effective precautions being taken’.
John Elvidge KC, prosecuting, said the dogs, which belonged to the farm owner and not Daniel’s parents, were used as guard dogs and for breeding and were not family pets.
They were ‘deliberately kept outside’ in enclosed pens, he said, and the jury heard how the RSPCA had warned the dogs were a danger but the warnings were ignored.
While steps were taken to stop them escaping, Mr Elvidge said, ‘no effective precautions were taken to keep Daniel out’.
CCTV from a neighbour’s property showed Daniel inside the pen at 12.50pm, the jury heard, and he’s seen moving around inside for a few moments before disappearing from view.
At the same time, a dog in an adjacent pen became ‘excited, bouncing up and down in animated fashion’.
The prosecution, Mr Elvidge said, say this ‘coincides with the beginning of a ferocious and prolonged attack’ on Daniel, who suffered catastrophic injuries, principally to his head and neck, which were consistent with the ‘predatory behaviour of dogs’.
A 999 call was made by Daniel’s mother almost 20 minutes later after he’d been inside the dog pen, the jury heard.
While it is not known for certain whether both dogs were involved in the attack, Sid was the ‘likely’ culprit.
‘No-one suggests that these catastrophic events were intended or desired by his parents, but this attack and Daniel’s death were utterly foreseeable consequences of negligently allowing Daniel to enter Sid and Tiny’s pen alone and unsupervised,’ Mr Elvidge said.
‘It is the prosecution case that his parents were aware that Daniel could enter the pen if he was left unsupervised.’
The jury heard how the dog pen, situated at the side of the farmhouse, was accessed through gates secured by a Karabiner clip – rather than a secure lock – that could ‘easily’ be slipped open.
Daniel’s parents had a ‘long association’ with the farm, owned by Matthew Brown, with Twigg working as an odd-job man and Bedford keeping horses there.
The couple, who have two other children, leased the farmhouse from Mr Brown in March 2022 after he was remanded to prison when his girlfriend Deniqua Westwood made a complaint to police.
Ms Westwood, who operated a puppy breeding business, moved out, and but it was agreed the guard dogs would remain and the couple would look after them.
Twigg was paid to attend to the day-to-day security, running of the farm, and the dogs’ care.
The couple, who also had another eight or nine dogs to look after, including three of their own, stayed on at the farm despite having a home in Manchester when Mr Brown was released on bail, the jury heard.
The prosecution case is that they continued to have responsibility for the dogs over weekends when he was away, and that was when Daniel was attacked.
Mr Elvidge said the dogs had been kept in ‘filthy and disgusting conditions’ and the couple were aware of concerns raised by the RSPCA and a warning that Daniel ‘might be bitten’.
There were a number of incidents involving dogs at the farm escaping, biting people and fighting each other.
Police were also aware that ‘dangerous’ dogs at the farm were being injured and neglected, the jury heard.
RSPCA inspectors had expressed specific concerns about Daniel being around the dogs and mentioned a recent fatal attack involving a small child, but they were ‘disregarded’ by the couple, the court heard.
And they were also warned about the dogs being loose and kept locked up in suitable areas.
The RSPCA also told police on March 30 that ‘something could happen if the dogs started fighting near the child,’ Mr Elvidge said, and his parents had been advised to be careful.
Rochdale Children’s Services visited the farm just three days before the attack and expressed concerns, the jury were told.
These included signs of ‘neglect’ of Daniel and that he was ‘in danger’ from the dogs.
Twigg and Bedford, of Radcliffe, Bury, both deny charges of gross negligence manslaughter and being in charge of a dog that was dangerously out of control.
The trial, due to last three weeks, continues.
