The mother of Ellie Lawrenson yesterday told a jury at Liverpool Crown Court that the pitbull terrier that mauled her five-year-old daughter to death was “evil”.

Lindsey Simpson, 25, said that the family pet, called Reuben, was loved by everyone, especially by Ellie, when it was introduced into the family home as a playful five-week-old puppy that could comfortably fit into the palm of a person’s hand. But she said that in the months before the attack, in the early hours of New Year’s Day this year, it had grown into a boisterous, unpredictable and “giddy” animal so strong that it was capable of snapping her daughter’s hand off.

She said that after Ellie’s younger brother, Joshua, was born in September last year she insisted that the dog be kept locked up in the garden during frequent visits to her mother’s house in St Helens, Merseyside. Her fears were reinforced in November when it bit her younger sister.

Dabbing her eyes with tissues, she told the jury that it was like putting her daughter “with a lion”. She said: “The dog was jealous of Ellie and hated her. I used to look at it through the window and just think: ‘Never let that dog get into the house’. It looked evil. Ellie used to play in the living room and you could tell that the dog was jealous because he was outside and Ellie was inside.”

Ms Simpson, whose son is now 11 months old, is giving evidence against Jacqueline Simpson, 45, who denies one charge of manslaughter through gross negligence. The prosecution alleges that Ellie’s grandmother broke the family rule and allowed the dog into the house where it attacked and killed the child in a frenzy, inflicting 72 injuries.

Struggling to contain her emotion, Ms Simpson said that she used the excuse of her son’s impending birth to banish the animal to the kennel in the garden. “I could not wait for Josh to be born because it wasn’t coming in the house again. I hated the dog.” She added: “It loved taking Ellie’s toys, not while she was there but when she was gone. I could see that one day it could snap her hands off to get to her toys.”

As her mother sat in the dock weeping, Ms Simpson added that there was no reason to tell her mother to keep the dog away from Ellie on New Year’s Eve. She knew the rule and had taken part in making it, she said.

Under cross-examination by John McDermott, QC, for the defence, Ms Simpson agreed that Ellie and her grandmother could not have been closer. Mr McDermott asked her: “Did you think for a moment your mum would ever be cavalier or take any risks with Ellie?” She whispered: “No, but maybe this time she did.”

“She was the best mum in the world, isn’t she?” “Yes, she is,” agreed Ms Simpson. Mr McDermott pressed: “She would not be a risk-taker with Ellie?” Ms Simpson replied: “Not on purpose, not at all.”

Earlier Ellie’s aunt, Kelsey Simpson, 20, who was attacked and bitten by the dog six weeks before it killed Ellie, told how the dog had grown considerably. “He just got bigger and bigger.”

The trial continues.

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