The friend of a mum mauled to death by her pet dogs has told how she heard the victim’s children desperately screaming for help during the attack.
Elayne Stanley, 44, died after being savaged by crossbreeds DJ and Billy as her terrified daughters Louise, 23, and 12-year-old twins looked on.
Pal Bev Hall said neighbours hurled bricks and tools at the snarling dogs in a bid to get them off.
The 39-year-old added: “Elayne was at home with her daughters, and was arguing with her eldest, Louise.
“We were putting the tea on and Louise runs in screaming, ‘The dogs are attacking mum.’
“We both dropped everything and ran over bare footed. The living room door was closed and Elayne was behind it so we couldn’t get in. I could hear a dog growling and scratching, we threw all sorts and banged on the windows to try to distract the dogs. Police were called, my partner and a couple of neighbours started throwing bricks at the dogs from the side door.
“Once the dogs were in the back garden my partner locked them out. By the time the paramedics came there was nothing they could do for Elayne, she had bled out.”
Another neighbour said: “I heard it kick off. The screams were terrible.”
A fellow resident added: “I was sat upstairs and I heard a girl shouting ‘DJ’. I heard the girl screaming, ‘I can’t get to her’ and the next thing someone was kicking the door in.
“Elayne was only a little woman, she didn’t really stand a chance.”
Paramedics tried to save Elayne but she died at the scene in Widnes, Cheshire. DJ was shot dead by police marksmen and Billy taken to secure kennels.
Bev insisted the pets had never show signs of violence before the attack. She added: “My kids have slept on those dogs and used them as pillows, I can’t believe it.
“Elayne had started shutting her curtains because they would bark when people went past.
“But I have never known the dogs to act that way.”
A neighbour believed the pets were American Bulldogs, but an expert said DJ could be a dogue de bordeaux crossed with a mastiff and Billy a boxer-mastiff cross.
