His parents, Joanne Bedford and Mark Twigg, of Radcliffe, both deny gross negligence manslaughter and offences under the dangerous dog act and are on trial at Manchester Crown Court
A mother has described the ‘terrifying’ moment she discovered her three year old son following an attack by two ‘massive’ dogs at a farm.
Daniel Twigg sustained ‘catastrophic injuries’ to his neck and sadly died after the brutal assault on May 15, 2022. The prosecution claims that Daniel was left unattended when he wandered into the enclosure in a courtyard at Carr Farm, in Milnrow near Rochdale, where he was set upon by the two canines, each weighing approximately 50kg.
His mother and father, Joanne Bedford and Mark Twigg, from Radcliffe, both deny charges of gross negligence manslaughter and breaches of the dangerous dog act and are currently facing trial at Manchester Crown Court.
On Wednesday, Ms Bedford recalled the harrowing moment her son was mauled to the court.
She explained that Daniel had woken her and Mr Twigg that morning, climbed into their bed and requested breakfast. He headed downstairs with Mr Twigg and their older child whilst Ms Bedford prepared for the day, reports the Manchester Evening News.
A the time she was expecting her second child and was seven months along, she told the court. Ms Bedford stated that Mr Twigg subsequently rang her using their son’s mobile to ask her to fetch Daniel as he was heading off to work.
“I went to get Daniel from the gate at the top of the slope and realised he had soiled his nappy. The other side of the gate is the dogs. The gate was locked, the bolt was shut and the carabiner was on the right,” she testified. “I realised he had soiled his nappy so I took him for a bath. He was in the bath for a couple of hours because he loved the water. He made me fill it up twice and put more bubbles in.”
Daniel then expressed his desire to visit his ponies, and Ms Bedford clarified to the jury that this meant he wanted to see their pony and muck him out. She recounted how they went to his bedroom where he picked out a yellow Paw Patrol shirt before he ‘told her off’ for putting on his ‘Monday’ emblazoned underpants when it was Sunday.
They proceeded downstairs where Daniel joined his older sister at the kitchen table and soon asked if he could play outside, she continued in her testimony.
“I said no, wait whilst I go get some shorts. I asked his sister to keep an eye on him whilst I got some shorts. I had gone upstairs to get some shorts and had to go to the toilet, so I went to the toilet first,” she told the court.
Ms Bedford, visibly emotional, described losing track of time while in the bathroom. “I don’t know how long I was in there. Then I was going to go into Daniel’s bedroom to retrieve his shorts but I didn’t get there before I heard his sister screaming: ‘Mum, mum, Daniel’s in the [dog] pen. He is face down and he’s got blood everywhere’,” she recounted, breaking down in tears.
She explained to the jurors that she rushed downstairs as quickly as possible and upon reaching outside, discovered the gate was open Clearly distressed, Ms Bedford went on: “I went straight over to Daniel and told the dogs to get away from him, one was walking towards him. Sid [a Cane Corsa] was stood over him. I told Sid to get off him, leave him alone and get away from him. He walked away.
“I sat down on the floor with Daniel and asked his sister to get my phone so I could call for an ambulance. Daniel was face down on the floor, he had gotten puncture marks all over his neck and he was bleeding. I was petrified and scared for my little boy.”
She explained that her daughter brought her mobile phone across and she rang for an ambulance whilst attempting to keep the dogs at bay. She said Sid was positioned close to them and Tiny [a Boerbel] was at a distance.
During the call, the operator suggested that Ms Bedford could reposition Daniel to enable her to carry out CPR on him safely given her advanced pregnancy.
She said she requested her daughter fetch the neighbour from next door for assistance, who she said arrived carrying a knife. Ms Bedford said she pleaded with him to ‘kill the dog’ as she feared they might harm someone else.
“He saw Daniel and I could see he was scared. I asked him to help me do CPR and he said: ‘I can’t’,” she continued.
When questioned by her barrister, Ian Henderson KC, about her emotional state, she broke down: “Heartbroken. In shock. Scared. I wanted my little boy. I wanted him so badly. I wanted them to tell me it was a dream and I wasn’t awake.”
She turned up at a police station four days after Daniel’s funeral to partake in a voluntary interview. She conceded that she hadn’t informed the police about her toilet visit when she had left Daniel with his sister.
During cross-examination by prosecutor John Elvidge KC, who queried why she hadn’t mentioned going to the toilet to the police, she responded: “I didn’t want the police thinking I was a bad parent because I have never come across as a bad parent.”
When questioned about the gate, she recounted that it was closed when she went to collect Daniel, implying the carabiner ‘would have been on’. “We always made sure it was always shut every time we were near the gates,” she stated. “It was just a routine to check the carabiner clip.”
Mark Twigg, 43, and Joanne Bedford, 37, from King Street, Radcliffe, deny the offences.
The trial continues.