A 34-year-old woman tragically died after attempting to stop her two dogs from fighting over a chicken nugget, an inquest has revealed.
Michelle Hempstead passed away hours after a single bite from one of her dogs at her Southend-on-Sea flat in July 2024.
Essex Coroner’s Court heard that her partner, Samuel West, who witnessed the incident, told police that Ms Hempstead got “caught in the crossfire” after tossing a McDonald’s chicken nugget in the air for her Pomeranian and Rottweiler-Mastiff crossbreed, which lunged at the smaller dog.
The bite, which struck her left armpit and upper arm, severed an artery and a vein, leading to multi-organ failure, the inquest was told.
The Rottweiler-Mastiff cross, known as Trigg, was seized and later euthanized. The inquest noted the bite was “not malicious”.
Mr. West described Trigg as “docile”, saying the dog “loved [Ms Hempstead] to death, and didn’t have a bad bone in his body.”
“You didn’t have to worry about him with anything; he wasn’t vicious in any way, shape, or form,” he told the court, adding that Ms Hempstead sometimes fed Trigg directly from her hand.
Essex Police Acting Insp. James McLean-Brown, who was in charge at the scene on the night of 29 July, told the court that Ms Hempstead collapsed outside her flat in Retort Close, suffering a “catastrophic injury” and “extensive” blood loss. She was pronounced dead in the early hours of 30 July.
Police had received reports of two XL bully-type dogs believed to stay at the property, thought to belong to Mr. West, though there was “no evidence” that these dogs were present at the time of the bite. Mr. West, who was briefly arrested over these reports, was released without charge and confirmed that the dogs were neither illegal nor banned breeds.
In a letter read to the court, Ms. Hempstead’s mother, Karen, described her daughter as “loving, resilient, not afraid to speak her mind, hardworking, caring, extremely brave, resourceful, [and] generous.”
Senior coroner for Essex Lincoln Brookes called Ms. Hempstead’s death a “double tragedy,” noting it occurred just weeks after the death of her eldest daughter.
Mr. Brookes concluded the inquest with a verdict of accidental death, describing it as an “unintended consequence of an otherwise innocent act.”
