UNITED KINGDOM -- The parents of a baby girl mauled to death by their two rottweiler dogs were yesterday told by a coroner they were NOT to blame for the tragedy.
Amy and Lee Burchell wept as an inquest heard how they found five-month-old Cadey-Lee Deacon brutally savaged.
Amy and Lee Burchell wept as an inquest heard how they found five-month-old Cadey-Lee Deacon brutally savaged.
The horrified mum had clasped the bloodied tot to her, screaming: “She’s dead, she’s dead.”
The couple had left her asleep in her Moses basket in their living quarters above a pub.
The dogs were kept on the roof and were not [normally] allowed inside unsupervised.
But the couple were busy moving out that day, a fire door was left open and the dogs, Bruno and Bess, got in.
Detective Inspector David Richardson told the Leicester inquest: “There was no evidence to suggest the care of Cadey-Lee fell below an acceptable standard.
"Because of unusual events, the door was left open – with tragic consequences.”
Leicester Coroner Martin Symington recorded a verdict of accidental death.
He told the couple, both 26: “I believe it was a tragic accident – an unexpected attack in the hurly-burly of packing.”
Lee, Cadey-Lee’s stepdad, was manager of the Rocket pub in Leicester when she was savaged in 2006.
Amy said in a police statement: “Lee said, ‘The baby’s not in the bedroom’. The Moses basket was knocked over and there was blood on the floor.
“I could see her body on the terrace and a dog lying next to her. She was covered in blood.”
She added the dogs were family pets and had seemed to like Cadey-Lee.
(The Sun - April 30, 2008)
