Drug dealer facing jail after admitting owning dangerous dogs that killed great gran Lucille Downer

A drug dealer is facing jail after admitting owning two dangerous dogs which savaged a pensioner to death in her own home.

Lucille Downer, 85, died after two crazed American bulldogs burst into her garden in the horror attack on Boundary Avenue, Rowley Regis, in April 2021. The great-grandmother was mauled to death by the out-of-control hounds which clung to her neck ‘like they would a toy’.

Owner Darren Pritchard, 44, appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday, April 18) where he admitted an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act. He pleaded guilty to owning two ‘dangerously out of control dogs’ and also producing and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

Pritchard, now of Smethwick, spoke to confirm his name, address and enter guilty pleas to all three counts during the brief eight-minute hearing. Judge Michael Chambers KC told Pritchard to expect jail when he is sentenced on May 15 before granting him conditional bail.

The judge said: “You have had the courage to plead guilty to these matters and you’ll get the appropriate credit in due course. But these are clearly serious matters that cross the custody threshold so I’m afraid you should be under no illusion as to the likely sentence. In the meantime I’ll renew your bail under the same conditions as before.”

Police rushed to Lucille’s home at around 3.20pm on Good Friday, on April 2, 2021 when the dogs escaped from a neighbouring property through a hole in the fence. Retired cook Lucille tragically couldn’t be saved and was declared dead at the scene after suffering “multiple” injuries.

A post-mortem gave her cause of death as a neck injury caused by a dog bite. West Midlands Police had previously revealed that the two dangerous dogs had been “humanely destroyed” as they could not be rehomed.

Lucille had lived in Rowley Regis since moving to the UK from Jamaica in her early 20s. In a statement, her family said previously: “Lucille was a mother, grandmother and great- grandmother who spent her working years as a cook at Bromford House Care Home in West Bromwich. Lucille was born in Jamaica and emigrated to the UK in her early 20s. Since arriving in the UK, Rowley Regis has always been her home and her family will miss her dearly.”

A dog walker, who regularly visits the street, told previously how the dogs had broken through a back fence panel and set upon the great grandmother. The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had spoken to the elderly lady’s neighbour in the aftermath of the attack.

He said: “From what I’ve heard the dogs were kept locked up and never walked. I never saw them ever be walked. Her neighbour said they had just had a new fence put in as well and the dogs managed to destroy a panel at the back of the shed and got into her garden and they never left.

“Apparently they went for her throat like a dog would with a toy. It’s truly horrific.” Another neighbour said: “They were monstrous beasts by all accounts. The poor lady stood no chance.”