Mauled Ellie's grandmother 'nearly twice drink-drive limit'

A grandmother was nearly twice the legal drink-drive limit when her young granddaughter was mauled to death by the family dog, a court heard today.

Jacqueline Simpson, 45 – who smoked up to 10 cannabis joints a day – had taken a cocktail of wine, marijuana, sleeping tablets and medication for depression, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

She was looking after five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson in the early hours of New Year’s Day this year when she allowed the dog into the house in St Helens, Merseyside.

The animal shook the life out of the little girl, inflicting 72 injuries.

An expert told the jury today that Simpson would have had about 140 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood at the time of the fatal attack. The legal drink-drive limit is 80 milligrams.