Killer dog confirmed as 'pit bull type'

The dog that killed five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson in England was a “pit bull terrier type“, Merseyside Police confirmed today.

Ellie was mauled by a dog belonging to her uncle in the early hours of New Year’s Day in St Helens.

A Metropolitan Police expert on the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act travelled to Merseyside today and confirmed that the dog, which was shot dead by police, was a pit bull type.

The decision means the dog’s owner, named locally as Kiel Simpson, could be charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act.