I WANTED TO DIE: Blackburn mum tells of horrific moment she discovered blood-soaked baby Ava-Jayne

Chloe King told an inquest how she ‘wanted to die’ after discovering her daughter Ava-Jayne Corless had been savaged by a ‘pitbull terrier-type’ dog.

The baby had been put down to sleep in an upstairs bedroom at Miss King’s former boyfriend’s house in Blackburn when the nine stone animal attacked.

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The court heard yesterday how the youngster suffered fatal injuries to her neck and chest area caused by the dog called Snoop.

The inquest was told how the dog, owned by Miss King’s former partner Lee Wright, was known as ‘Killer’ by some neighbours and had previously killed a cat.

In a statement read to the court by coroner, Michael Singleton, Miss King said she was distraught by what had happened and described Ava-Jayne as a ‘beautiful’ child.

She said: “I am absolutely devastated by what has happened. My baby girl has lost her life.

“I would never have taken her there if I had known what was going to happen that night.

“I miss her terribly. I do not understand why Lee’s dog caused those injuries that night.

“Ava was my beautiful daughter and I will treasure the memories.”

Miss King had planned to stay with her baby at Mr Wright’s house in Emily Street on the night of February 10.

The student said Ava-Jayne was ‘grisly’ as she was teething and had a cold, but was otherwise fit and healthy.

She told the hearing how she took the girl upstairs and put her down on Mr Wright’s bed so that she could go to sleep and kept checking on her regularly.

Snoop, who had earlier been chewing on a dog toy, was in the kitchen and had been blocked from going into the living room by a speaker and a golf club stand as Miss King did not like to get hairs on her clothes, the inquest was told.

Miss Wright said Snoop had always been ‘fine’ and had never shown any signs of jealousy.

She said: “He just did not seem that sort of dog.”

The pair fell asleep on the sofa and Miss King told how she woke up as Mr Wright was walking up the stairs.

She said: “I did not really think anything had happened at that point. I walked upstairs following Lee.

“It was dark, but I could still see a fair amount.

“I remember seeing there was a dark stain about half way down the bed.

“My initial thought was that I needed to pick her up. Ava was really floppy and I remember her head flopping back.

“At that point I had not noticed blood on her. I just thought she was in a bit of a deep sleep.

“I laid Ava on the bed in front of me and I was just cuddling her. Ava made some noises. I got hold of her. I was giving her kisses.

“I was talking to her saying ‘come on Ava, you need to wake up’.

“Lee was screaming, ‘Is she all right? Is she okay?’.”

Miss King said she then called for an ambulance.

She added: “Ava was so pale and her lips were really white. I thought she was asleep.

“Then I noticed blood on the right-hand side of the bed.

“I then pulled the blanket back and saw the left-hand side of her neck.

“I felt like I was going to pass out. I felt like I was going to be sick and I collapsed on the floor.

“I thought I had woken up in a nightmare.

“I said I just wanted to die. Why could the dog not have attacked me?

“I said if Ava did not make it, I wanted to die.”

Miss King performed CPR on her daughter until emergency help arrived. Ava-Jayne was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Dr Philip Lumb, a Home Office forensic pathologist, told the coroner Ava-Jayne died from ‘multiple injuries’.

The court then heard from PC Rose Marie Lund, who was one of the first officers on the scene, who said it was ‘the most traumatic incident’ she had ever attended. Her colleague is still off work due to the effect Ava-Jayne’s death has had on him.

The inquest heard that Miss King and Mr Wright were arrested on suspicion of child neglect and then manslaughter. However, the cases against both were dropped.

Mr Wright still faces a charge of having the custody of a fighting dog and will appear before Blackburn magistrates in February next year.

When he was interviewed by police, he told officers the dog, who he had described to vets as a ‘cat killer’, was an American bulldog, which is not a banned breed, the inquest at Blackburn’s King George’s Hall heard.

The coroner was told how Snoop, who was destroyed at the scene, had recently suffered a broken leg, which Mr Wright put down to him having jumped up at a tree.

The hearing also heard how he had owned other dogs, including a Japanese akita named Wolfgang, which was put down after it also fractured its leg, and two female dogs.

However Peter Tallack, who assists the police with the identification of prohibited breeds, said he ‘would not be surprised’ ‘if both dogs’ injuries were caused by fighting.

He said he also believed Snoop to be a banned breed.

The expert said: “It is my opinion that the dog does have a substantial number of characteristics of the dog known as the pitbull terrier type.”

Mr Singleton was due to return a verdict on Ava-Jayne’s death today (WED).