Ripped Apart

Devil dog attack that left little Archie dead also tore family in two

By Chris Tate

THE teenager whose baby boy was killed by the family's rottweiler was last night sensationally BLAMED for the tragedy ...by her own mother..

Grieving Sharon Hirst revealed how her heartless daughter Becki ABANDONED her 13-month-old son Archie for 48 HOURS before the chilling attack—and was in a PUB while he was being savaged.

And she told how the young mum went out partying to celebrate her 18th birthday only TWO DAYS after her baby boy's death.

Sharon said: "She's been out most nights since his death. I have found that impossible to understand."

She was so worried about her daughter's uncaring attitude towards her grandson she called POLICE and SOCIAL SERVICES hours before the tragedy to try to have him TAKEN AWAY from Becki and moved into her care.

The shocking revelations from a family split by tragedy emerge as Becki's sisters, seven-year-old Maia and Kara, 16, speak for the first time in heartrending detail of how they tried to rescue Archie from the jaws of the devil dog they called Teddy Bear.

Tearful Maia said: "I just kept pulling and holding and squeezing Archie's little hand—and hitting at Teddy Bear with my other hand—but he wouldn't let go. Then suddenly Archie's hand went all soft in mine."

Sharon, 42, told how the seeds of the horror were sown in a family row on Boxing Day while Becki—who then lived with Archie's father Damian—was on a two-day Christmas visit to her mum's. Becki suddenly appeared downstairs wearing her sister Kara's best new clothes and announced she was going to a club.

Mum-of-seven Sharon said: "I was shocked because we'd been having a good time. I said to her, ‘You can't go out, you've got Archie to look after.' She said, 'I'll do what I want.' That was Becki all over. She's always put herself before anyone else, including Archie.

"I warned her if she left Archie alone, I'd call the police and social services. But Becki stormed out without even kissing him goodbye.

"After she left I checked her baby bag and there was no food, nappies or clothes. I had to buy some. That was the last we saw or heard from her—until I called her mobile from the hospital two days later to tell her about the attack on Archie. She was in a pub at the time."

Sharon DID ring police for advice on her legal position on Boxing Day night and called social services and a solicitor about getting a temporary residency order for Archie.

She said: "I did it because that little boy had been passed from pillar to post during his short life. He was always being looked after by young friends of Becki's. He loved being with us in a stable environment."

But the environment at Sharon and her partner John Theobald's detached home was actually far from stable— with a timebomb in the yard waiting to explode.

Sharon was at the hairdressers and John was out helping a relative fix a car on the fateful day while Kara was babbysitting sisters Maia, Georgia, six, and Archie. They were all playing on the PlayStation in her room, but then she popped to the toilet.

In that time Maia took the baby downstairs into the high-fenced yard in which Sharon's two-year-old pedigree Rottweiler bitch—a guard dog gift from a friend—was kept. Days before the little girls had been allowed to wheel their doll pushchairs in the yard with the dog, patting and stroking it.

Little MAIA told us: "I came downstairs with Archie. He was holding my hand. Teddy Bear had her head up at the kitchen window and she looked so sad I decided to go out and stroke her.

"I unlocked the door and went on the step with Archie to sit and pat her. But Teddy Bear grabbed Archie's trouser leg and wouldn't let go.

"It was like a tug of war. I was holding on to Archie's hand so tight and hitting at Teddy Bear with my other hand.

"Then suddenly Archie stopped squeezing me back and his fingers just slipped out of my hand. He'd gone to sleep.

"Teddy Bear dragged him off around the yard and I ran after her, punching and kicking her all I could." The eight-stone dog then dropped Archie and courageous Maia picked him up. "I started to bring him back to the house. But Teddy Bear started jumping up at my back," said Maia, who was covered in scratches and bruises after the attack.

The dog snatched Archie from her again. By now KARA had run downstairs. "There was the dog with its head in the air with Archie in its mouth like a toy," said Kara.

"Archie wasn't making any sound and the dog was shaking him. Then she dropped Archie and I grabbed him but she leapt up and took his legs in her mouth. I was pulling and screaming at the dog to let go.

"I had my arms round Archie's body under his armpits, but the dog was pulling hard and began spinning me round in a circle. I was kicking her and screaming but there was nothing I could do. She tore him away from me—so I ran into the house and called 999." West Yorkshire police were at the Hirsts' home in Wakefield in minutes.

But Kara—now hiding upstairs with the two other chidren covered in blood—said: "The police just stood there looking through the fence waiting for more to come. They didn't do anything."

A paramedic arrived and climbed in to rescue Archie's mangled body. Armed cops then shot the dog.

Wound

Kara had also called shocked mum Sharon and John, who arrived to find mayhem at their home.

Sharon said: "I was put into a police car and rushed to hospital. An officer told me the dog had bitten Archie. It hit me like a hammer."

Pipe-fitter John, 56, said: "I couldn't believe it. The dog had been kind and gentle until that day."

After several failed attempts Sharon got through to Becki at the pub. "It was no surprise to find she was there. She was always going out and was always hard to find." The mother and daughter met at the hospital.

Sharon said: "Archie was still alive and they were fighting to save him. Then suddenly they asked us if we'd like to see him. At first Becki didn't want to because there'd be tubes everywhere—but the nurse reassured her.

"He had a wound to his neck where they were trying to stop the blood. We kissed him and stroked him and said our prayers for him."

Archie died a few hours later. But Sharon says Becki has coped with her grief—by going out clubbing.

She added: "It was her 18th birthday on the Sunday after Archie died—and just 48 hours after his death she went out for a meal and partying on that day too.

"I have six other children who've never been any bother. This horrible tragedy must surely make her grow up and realise what really is important in life.

"I just hope that in some way we may get closer to Becki herself through all this."

chris.tate@notw.co.uk

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