Screams heard by neighbours as teenager is killed in suspected XL Bully attack

Neighbours have told how they heard a woman screaming in the street after a teenager was killed in a suspected XL Bully attack inside a flat in Bristol.

Emergency services were called to reports of the fatally injured 19-year-old female inside a semi-detached property in Cobhorn Drive in the Bishopsworth area of the city at around 7pm on Wednesday night.

Despite receiving treatment from paramedics, the teenager died at the scene.

Avon and Somerset Police said the victim had been attacked by a dog, which officers now believe to be an XL Bully. From last February, it became illegal to own the breed without a certificate of exemption.

The dog was seized and sedated by officers, before later being put down.

A man and a woman both aged in their 20s were arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death and possession of a prohibited breed of dog.

On Thursday, neighbours spoke about the attack and their shock over the woman’s death.

Laura Gray, aged 32, who lives opposite the address, said first heard a woman walking out of the property screaming and crying.

“She walked out and sat down on the front steps as emergency services arrived outside,” she said. “They [emergency services] asked her ‘has the dog been seized’ but she wasn’t making sense. She was screaming, crying, not making sense. She was in shock.”

Ms Gray said she believed the teenager killed had been visiting a relative living in the upstairs flat.

“I’d seen her outside before – she was lovely, bubbly, a happy young girl,” Ms Gray said. “Today everyone is shock. We can’t believe it. It’s made me feel very weary about dogs.”

Doreen Tovey, 82, who lives a few doors down from the property, said: “I heard shouting and commotion – a woman was screaming in the street,” she said. “She was hysterical, she was shouting “they killed my dog”.

“I’ve been here since 1995 and nothing like this has happened here before.”

Neighbourhood Inspector Terry Murphy gave a statement close to the scene on Thursday. He said: “Our thoughts are with the young woman’s family who have been updated about what’s happened.

“We understand the local community will be shocked and saddened to learn of these events.”

Asked if the dog was an XL Bully, he said the “early indication appeared it was”. Insp Murphy was unable to give information on the events leading up to the attack, or on the victim due to the ongoing investigation.

He said: “A full investigation is now well underway to establish the full circumstances of the events that led to her death.”

The ban on XL Bully was brought in by Rishi Sunak’s Tory government following a spate of attacks in 2023.

Under the change to the Dangerous Dog Act, owning the breed is banned unless the owner has an exemption certificate which requires them to take out insurance and keep the dog on a lead in public.

However, in the first five months following the introduction of the ban last February, the number of dog attacks in England and Wales rose by nine per cent, according to data obtained by The Independent.

Last month, police chiefs warned the legislation would be no “overnight fix”.

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