‘Don’t let my son’s tragic death be for nothing’: Desperate father of boy, nine, mauled to death by American bulldog cross while mother went on cocaine binge demands urgent change to law on dangerous dogs
The grieving father of a nine-year-old boy who was tragically mauled to death by a dog, after being inflicted with 54 bite marks, is campaigning for an urgent change in the law on dangerous pets.
Frankie MacRitchie, from Plymouth, was left alone in a caravan with an American bulldog cross Staffordshire bull terrier while his mother Tawney Willis, went on a cocaine and drinking binge with friend Sadie Totterdell nearby.
The dog, which was known to have previously attacked three other people in Plymouth, between 2016 and 2018, attacked Frankie leaving him with devastating injuries to his head and neck that led to him bleeding to death.
Cornwall Coroner’s Court heard the boy had been left alone in a caravan with the seven-stone dog named Winston for two-and-a-half hours, at the Tencreek Holiday Park in Looe, Cornwall, in April 2019.
Father Billy, 36, who has spoken for the first time since the heartbreaking death of his son, told the Mirror: ‘There has to be change. I don’t want to see another child die needlessly at the hands of careless adults and dangerous dogs.’
Father Billy, 36, is campaigning for an urgent change in the law on dangerous pets after losing his nine-year-old son Frankie to a dog attack in 2019
‘I don’t want another family living the nightmare my family and I live every day of our lives. Frankie didn’t stand a chance.
‘Our only hope is that his tragic death wasn’t for nothing and it may help save other children.’
The dog, named Winston, which was known to have previously bitten another child, was seized by police and destroyed.
Andrew Cox, the senior coroner for Cornwall, had previously said: ‘It does raise the question in my mind whether steps could have been taken earlier that may have avoided this tragic outcome.
‘It is manifestly obvious now to us having heard all of the evidence and having learnt of the incidents in 2016 and 2018 that there was a risk of this dog attacking Frankie’.
‘This is why I want to campaign for change. These children must not die for nothing. If that was the Prime Minister’s child the laws would be different now.’
Dr Deborah Cook, a Home Office registered forensic pathologist, said Frankie had died from blood loss caused by multiple dog bites.
‘The wounds have the characteristics of dog bites in a mauling type of attack,’ she said. ‘The concentration of the injuries over the head and the neck is in keeping with the recognised behaviour of dogs in attack.’
Frankie MacRitchie was left alone in a caravan with an American bulldog cross Staffordshire bull terrier while his mother Tawney Willis (pictured), went on a cocaine and drinking binge
Frankie had appeared to have suffered defensive bite wounds, so may well have attempted to fight off the attack, Dr Cook added.
Frankie had been born with a congenital heart condition and was prescribed warfarin for thinning his blood, but this was not a factor in his death.
‘The injuries are so devastating and so extensive anyone, a child or adult, would have died from the blood loss,’ Dr Cook said.
‘Even if it occurred outside the front door of a large hospital, I doubt Frankie could have survived.’
Frankie bled to death after sustaining 54 injuries, with the most serious to his head and neck, during the attack in the early hours.
Grieving father Billy is now campaigning for an urgent change in the law on dangerous pets
Mum Tawney Willis later admitted a charge of child neglect and was jailed for two years. She has since been released from prison.
Totterdell was jailed for three years, describing leaving Frankie alone with the ‘extremely powerful’ dog as ‘the height of folly’. She was also banned from keeping dogs for ten years.
In a statement read outside court in June 2020, Frankie MacRitchie’s family described him as a ‘special young boy’ who had a heart condition and should not have been left alone.
‘As Frankie’s family, nothing will ever be enough, no sentence will ever be long enough,’ his aunt Danielle MacRitchie said.
‘Not today, not tomorrow, not ever will we as a family forgive them for leaving our boy in a caravan with a dog he hardly knew. Frankie was left alone to die in the most horrific way, beyond anyone’s imagination.’
Totterdell was jailed for three years, describing leaving Frankie alone with the ‘extremely powerful’ dog as ‘the height of folly’
Mr Cox said Ms Willis had made a ‘serious error of judgment and a serious mistake’ in leaving Frankie alone with the dog but her negligence was not sufficient to allow him to record a conclusion of unlawful killing.
Instead, he recorded a narrative conclusion and said he would be writing a preventing future deaths report to Devon and Cornwall Police.
He said: ‘I want the police to check the systems they now have in place are sufficiently robust to ensure where that happens, if it is necessary, a dog is dealt with before this sort of incident can happen again.
‘I want to be very clear, I am not saying that the police did not take the appropriate steps on this occasion.
‘We know there were two incidents in 2016 but the events of 2018 were not brought to police attention.
‘What it seems to me is important is that a robust system is in place so that if there are incidents like this in the future, we can be confident that those dogs that need to be are dealt with.’
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