A 40-year-old man has become the first to be charged under new laws on owning XL bully dogs following the death of a 68-year-old grandmother.

Essex Police have charged Ashley Warren, 40, of Walnut Road in Leyton and formally of Hillman Avenue in Jaywick in connection with the death of Esther Martin.

The Leyton man has been charged with two counts of possession or having custody of a fighting dog, two counts under the Animal Welfare Act, possession of a bladed article and possession of a class B drugs.

The charges relate to an incident in Hillman Avenue in Jaywick, near Clacton, at about 4pm on Saturday February 3.

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Emergency services, including the air ambulance, were called to the address and on arrival, officers found a woman had been seriously injured as a result of an attack by two XL Bullies.

She was later pronounced dead at the scene and a man was arrested in connection with the incident.

An inquest hearing was told that Ms Martin was found unresponsive inside a property in Hillman Avenue and had sustained “unsurvivable” dog bite wounds.

At the inquest opening, the 68-year-old's medical cause of death was recorded as “dog bite wounds to the upper right limb”.

Proceedings were then suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation.

Two dogs were destroyed at the scene and were later confirmed by Essex Police to be XL bullies.

READ MORE: Suffolk and Essex Crime News

Ashley Warren is due to appear at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 22 August.