Dog attack death may not lead to charges

The death of a schoolgirl apparently savaged by a pack of dogs may not lead to a criminal prosecution.

Police investigating the death of 14-year-old Jade Anderson said they were working to establish hether any criminal offences had been committed.

The teenager was discovered with wounds consistent with a dog attack at a property in Greater Manchester.

Jade was visiting the house, the home of a friend, and was alone when she was attacked by four dogs — believed to be two bull mastiffs and two Staffordshire bull terriers — which were later shot by police marksmen.

A fifth dog, not considered a danger to the public, was “contained” at the scene in Chaucer Grove, Atherton, near Wigan, said Greater Manchester Police.

Friends have paid tribute to the “quiet” and “timid” teenager, who is thought to have returned to the property from the shops with a meat pie when she was attacked.

Superintendent Mark Kenny said he had devoted a number of officers to finding out what happened.

“The investigation will take a considerable period of time,” he said. “We are not going to jump to any conclusions. We want to work out exactly what has happened before we make any decisions. Nobody has been arrested.

“There is an investigation which will establish whether there are criminal offences so we are speaking to everybody who was involved to establish what has happened.”

Kenny said the dogs’ owner, who was out when the attack took place, had been interviewed and was co-operating with police.

“They are in shock as well and we have got to find out what happened for them too,” he said.

Specialist vets were examining the remains of the destroyed dogs to confirm exactly what breed they are and to make sure they were not illegal.

“We’ve certainly not had any incidents here,” said Kennedy. This is the first incident of this nature we have attended at this location.”

The house is a two-storey, red brick on the Hag Fold estate.

Signs at the front and back of the house warned “beware of the dog”.

Police attended shortly after 2pm on Tuesday after a report of a teenage girl being seen unconscious and a number of dogs being “out of control”.

Police marksmen “humanely” destroyed four of the animals.

Jade had stayed at the address before, Kenny said, but officers are looking into how well she knew the dogs.

Her parents, who live just a few streets away, were too upset to talk.

Kenny said the family was receiving the support of a Family Liaison Officer who had earlier described them as “devastated”.