An Essex woman was fatally bitten by one of her two dogs as it fought with her other pet over chicken nuggets, an inquest has found.
Southend woman Michelle Hempstead died on 30 July 2024 following the incident at her flat the day prior.
On Monday, a hearing in Chelmsford was told that during the altercation, her larger dog, Trigg, caught her upper left arm and severed an artery as it snapped at the smaller dog, Pom.
Ms Hempstead, 34, was reportedly throwing chicken nuggets to the two dogs â a mastiff Rottweiler cross and a Pomeranian, respectively â when the incident occurred.
Essex senior coroner Lincoln Brookes explained that Pom “had a go at Trigg”, prompting Trigg to “go to bite him or snap at him, and this is a big dog with big jaws”.
Despite the fatal incident, the coroner noted that both dogs were considered “quite well behaved” and described Trigg as “an otherwise gentle giant”.
Ms Hempstead was taken to hospital but died the next day at the Royal London Hospital following traumatic blood loss which led to multiple organ failure.
Her then partner, Samuel West, told Mondayâs hearing that Ms Hempstead had bought McDonaldâs food and âhad her box of, I think, 20 nuggetsâ.
âShe liked to throw them up in the air and the little one, Pom, was going for the big one, not aggressively but he used to growl and snap when he wanted to get the nugget first,â he said.
He said that as Pom went to get a nugget âTriggâs done this thing where he chomps his mouthâ.
âIt looked like to me it wasnât a grab,â said Mr West.
âHe just went to do a chomping thing and caught her under the arm.â
He described it as an âabsolute freak accidentâ.
He said Trigg âdidnât have a bad bone in his bodyâ, never showed his teeth and would sleep on Ms Hempsteadâs bed.
Mr West said Ms Hempstead, who worked at Premier Inn, had previously fed Trigg food from her mouth.
He said Pom âsometimes used to think he was in charge of the big dogâ.
In comments captured on a police bodycam and described to the inquest, Mr West said Ms Hempstead âthrew the nugget up in the air â she was just caught in the crossfireâ.
Essex senior coroner Lincoln Brookes, recording a conclusion of accidental death, said: âMichelle Hempstead died of the consequences of traumatic blood loss following a single bite from her large dog in her home which severed an artery.
âThe bite was not malicious and occurred when she was caught during a brief fight between her two dogs over food.â
He continued: âThe double tragedy about this is that she (Ms Hempstead) and the rest of her family suffered a terrible bereavement only a few weeks beforehand, of the death of her daughter.
âShe was still reeling from that.â
Police previously said two dogs were seized from the address. The victim was their sole owner and both dogs had been âdisclaimed for destructionâ.
According to guidance from the Metropolitan Police, dogs can be euthanised if they are disclaimed by the owner, which happened in this case as Ms Hempstead was the sole owner.
