Pit bull attack: Grandmother is acquitted

THE grandmother of dog attack victim Ellie Lawrenson was yesterday acquitted of her granddaughter’s manslaughter at Liverpool Crown Court, as the 45-year-old’s heroin dealing past became public.

Ellie was killed by a pit bull terrier belonging to her uncle, Kiel Simpson, on New Year’s Eve after Jacqueline Simpson let it into her home in St Helens, Merseyside. Ellie had 72 injuries.

In a court banning order, details of Jacqueline Simpson’s past and current drugs charges were not allowed to be publicised.

In 1989, she was jailed for 42 months for heroin possession.

The grandmother drank two bottles of wine and smoked 10 cannabis joints on the day Ellie was savaged.

She was also facing the prospect of another trial after being charged with possession of heroin — which police found in searches after the attack on the five-year-old.

These charges have been dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service said it was not in the public interest to pursue them.

Yesterday, as Simpson was ushered from Liverpool Crown Court following a six-day trial, she refused to answer questions.

Simpson let the dog, Reuben, into her house despite it previously attacking her daughter and a neighbour and his dog.

Following the nursery pupil’s killing, police allegedly found £15,000 (€22,025) cash in her house, which they believe could have come from drug deals.