BRITAIN: The family of a five-month-old baby girl mauled to death by their two Rottweiler dogs in Leicester said yesterday words could not express their devastation.
"We cannot just believe that Cadey-Lee is gone," said her mother Amy Deacon and partner, Lee Burchell, a pub manager.
Police said there was no connection between the baby's death on Saturday and a knife attack in Leicester on Sunday in which the child's 50-year-old grandfather was seriously injured and a 47-year-old woman murdered. The dead woman, named as Debra Larn, was reported to be the grandfather's partner.
"The two investigations are entirely separate," said Chief Supt Steve Pitts of Leicestershire police. A 26-year-old man has been charged with the woman's murder. Supt Pitts said the dogs had attacked the baby while her mother and Mr Burchell were moving furniture out of the living quarters of their pub, the Rocket.
"It appears that a fire escape door was left mistakenly open and allowed the family's dogs, Bruno and Bess, access to the living quarters. The dogs then made their way to the bedroom in which baby Cadey-Lee was sleeping. By the time Amy, Lee and the relatives who were helping them move realised what had happened, the dogs had attacked," he said.
The baby's parents said the public reaction to their tragedy was a comfort to them. "People have been incredible. Our family and friends, and the many people who have left flowers and toys outside the Rocket - it has been overwhelming."
Neighbours described the two dogs, which have since been destroyed, as guard dogs and not pets. "They were very aggressive and known to be vicious. Everybody around here was petrified of them," neighbour Amy Grimbley told the Daily Mirror.