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  "path": "/2026/02/12/xl-bully-owner-says-never-saw-fatal-attack-coming-a-million-years-26857471/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-12T19:18:26.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "UK",
    "Crime News",
    "Dog attacks",
    "Essex",
    "Surrey",
    "News Updates",
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    "**check our news page**",
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  "textContent": "Ashley Warren is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court accused of owning or being in charge of two XL bully dogs that killed 68-year-old Esther Martin (Picture: PA)\n\n**An aspiring rapper whose XL bullies killed a grandmother has told jurors he ‘never thought in a million years’ the ‘loving, friendly’ dogs would attack someone.**\n\nAshley Warren, 41, left 68-year-old Esther Martin at his home in Jaywick, Essex, with 10 of the dogs on February 3, 2024 – two days after the breed was banned in the UK.\n\nGiving evidence at Chelmsford Crown Court, he said the animals ‘weren’t raised to attack or bite’, adding: ‘I never seen this coming in a million years. I would never have left Esther with the dogs if I thought they were dangerous.’\n\nHe continued: ‘She knew the dogs. I never thought for one second this would happen. They were always loving dogs.’\n\nWarren, now of Addlestone, Surrey, had left Ms Martin with the two dogs, named Beauty and Bear, and eight puppies of the same breed, at his home in Hillman Avenue.\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News **alerts the moment it happens.\n\nHe broke down at one point in evidence while a video of some of the puppies was played to jurors and he was passed a box of tissues by the court usher to wipe tears from his eyes.\n\nJurors were told that Warren had asked Ms Martin to mind the animals so he could travel to London to film a music video.\n\nWarren said he was going to ‘shoot a video and meet up with my lady friend’.\n\nHe said he had asked Mrs Martin ‘if she could come and help look after the dogs’.\n\n‘I didn’t expect her to walk the dogs, I asked her if she would let the dogs out two or three times in the front garden so they could wee,’ Warren said.\n\nHe said he told Ms Martin about a broom that ‘was there to separate the pups’ as they had ‘got to the stage where they were putting pinholes when they were fighting’.\n\nAshley Warren arriving at Chelmsford Crown Court (Picture: PA)\n\nWarren said that when he was in London he got a call from a child who was in the house ‘crying down the phone’ saying that the ‘dogs have attacked’ Ms Martin.\n\n‘At this stage I’m panicking, I’m breaking down myself, I’m telling (the child) to get out of the house to get to somewhere safe,’ he said.\n\nHe said he got the train back to Clacton and called a man who he knew in the area ‘to go round to help her’ (Ms Martin).\n\n‘I tried to get a strong man to go round and try to save her,’ he said.\n\nWarren, speaking about the change in the law for XL bully dogs, said: ‘I thought I had to get all the dogs neutered and muzzled before I was allowed to walk them.\n\n‘I was so threatened I didn’t want them to get put down I kept them in the house.’\n\nHe added that ‘it would have been January time (in 2024) I stopped walking the dogs’.\n\nThe ban on XL bully dogs legislation came into force on February 1, 2024.\n\nEsther Martin was killed by two XL bully dogs (Picture: Essex Police/PA Wire)\n\nDefence barrister Allan Compton KC asked Warren: ‘Knowing then you cannot walk them unless they’re neutered, muzzled and leashed, why didn’t you get on with it?’\n\nWarren said: ‘I’m on PIP (benefits) – most of the times if I want something I have to save for it.\n\n‘I can’t just go and get it. I don’t have a lot of money.’\n\nProsecutor Christopher Paxton KC suggested to Warren that the cost of a muzzle was around £20, and Warren said: ‘I know the price of a muzzle – I know they were cheap.’\n\nMr Paxton asked how much his train ticket to London was, and Warren replied: ‘£40.’\n\nWarren has pleaded not guilty to being the owner of a dog named Bear which caused injury resulting in death while dangerously out of control in a private place.\n\nHe also denies being a person in charge of a dog named Beauty which caused injury resulting in death while dangerously out of control in a private place.\n\nWarren also denies having a bladed article without good reason or lawful authority at Clacton railway station on February 3, 2024.\n\nAsked by Mr Compton why he took the knife to London, Warren said, referring to the music video he had gone to film: ‘To shoot my scene.’\n\nMr Paxton asked Warren: ‘Do you agree that on February 1, 2024 the dogs you had in your home were banned XL bully dogs?’\n\nWarren replied: ‘Yes.’\n\nHe also agreed with two further statements from Mr Paxton, that on the same date he ‘did not hold an exemption certificate for any of the XL bully dogs in your home’ and ‘had not applied for a single certificate for any of the XL bully dogs in your home’.\n\nThe trial continues.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,****check our news page**.\n\n Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source ",
  "title": "XL bully owner says he ‘never saw fatal attack coming in a million years’"
}