A coroner has announced he will write to Devon and Cornwall Police following the inquest into the death of nine-year-old Frankie MacRitchie, who was mauled by a dog in Cornwall in 2019. The inquest heard that the dog, a 45kg American bulldog-Staffordshire bull terrier cross named Winston, had been involved in previous attacks.
Frankie was killed after being left alone in a caravan with the dog while on holiday. His mother, Tawnee Willis, and the dog's owner, Sadie Totterdell, both from Plymouth, were jailed over the incident. Willis admitted child neglect and was sentenced to two years; Totterdell pleaded guilty to owning a dangerously out-of-control dog and received three years.
The inquest at Cornwall Coroner's Court revealed that in 2016, Winston bared his teeth and chomped at a woman's car window, preventing her from leaving her vehicle. Police spoke to Totterdell about the incident. In August 2018, the dog bit a boy's ear while he was playing with a balloon, requiring hospital treatment; police were not informed.
Senior Coroner Andrew Cox said he would issue a preventing future deaths report to the police. He stated: 'It does raise the question in my mind whether steps could have been taken earlier that may have avoided this tragic outcome.' He noted that Willis was unaware of the dog's history, but Totterdell must have known of the earlier incidents.
Cox gave a narrative conclusion, stating that Frankie was attacked while left unsupervised. Willis apologised in court, saying: 'I am truly, truly sorry. I miss him every day.' The coroner acknowledged Willis made a serious error of judgment but did not record a conclusion of unlawful killing.
