Woman, 21, mauled to death by brother’s dog ‘she feared would bite her’

A 21-year-old woman was mauled to death by her brother's dog which she was looking after during the pandemic, an inquest has heard.

Keira Ladlow’s brother Kayden found her face down, covered in blood in the living room of his home in Kitts Green, Birmingham, after she was attacked by his Staffordshire bull terrier cross Gucci.

Mr Barrett told Birmingham Coroners’ Court that when he returned from work at 2pm on 5 February, he found her in the lounge with the dog “cowering in the corner”.

The inquest heard Mr Barrett had rehomed Gucci last October after finding out it was being given away after biting another dog.

He said the animal had “settled in” well and had bonded with him and his sister.

The inquest heard the night before she died, Ms Ladlow told her brother she feared Gucci would bite her.

Mr Barrett said he dismissed her fears and put it down to her not taking her medication.

Ms Ladlow suffered from emotional unstable personality disorder.

The next morning he left for work with Gucci asleep in bed next to his sister but when he returned, water was pouring through the ceiling from the shower and her “lifeless body” was on the floor “covered in blood”.

In a statement read out at the inquest, Mr Barrett said: “I panicked and did not know what to do.

"I've always protected her. I feel responsible even though there was nothing I could have done that day.”

Mr Barrett called police and told officers his dog had killed his sister and the dog was seized and destroyed.

Birmingham assistant coroner Rebecca Ollivere recorded a narrative verdict and said, “Nobody will ever know what caused the tragic shift" in events that day.