Grandmother took drugs before pit bull mauled child

A WOMAN charged over the death of her granddaughter took drugs and alcohol the day the five-year-old was mauled by a family pet, a court heard yesterday.

Grandmother Jacqueline Simpson, 45, also flouted a family rule by allowing the pit bull terrier into the house, it was claimed.

Ellie Lawrenson was killed in the early hours of New Year’s Day when the dog, Reuben, locked its jaws around her throat and shook her around Simpson’s living room. She had 72 injuries.