A dog-walker who was mauled to death after being set upon by eight crazed animals under her charge, including her own banned bull terrier, suffered penetrating dog bites to her torso, neck and arms during the attack.
Natasha Johnston, 28, was killed near Gravelly Hill in Caterham on January 12, 2023 – after she had lost control of the pack of dogs she was walking.
A post mortem revealed her cause of death as shock and haemorrhage including perforation of the left jugular vein.
At the inquest into her death today, Senior Coroner Richard Travers said that he will prepare a Prevention of Future Deaths Report for Home Secretary Yvette Cooper about restrictions for dog-walkers in public places.
Mr Travers confirmed during the hearing that ‘there are no national restrictions or regulations regarding the number and weight of dogs that can be walked in a public place.’
The inquest was told Ms Johnston, from Croydon in south London, was found by walker Ben Kershaw down a slope in the picturesque Surrey beauty spot – after he had been approached by the dogs which were off their leads and running around.
But despite efforts by Mr Kershaw, police officers, and paramedics administering CPR to Ms Johnston, she was pronounced dead at 3.29pm.
The inquest today heard that Ms Johnston had been seen by a number of people in the area prior to her death – including by horse-riders whose animals had been spooked by the out-of-control dogs.
Shortly before her death, Ms Johnston had been seen on the ground with five or six dogs around her shouting ‘go back, ‘go back’.
But senior coroner for Surrey Richard Travers found in his conclusion that Ms Johnston was not being attacked at this point, and that the ‘dogs were simply out of control’.
Coroner Mr Travers told the inquest: ‘On January 12, 2023, Ms Johnston, who was in the habit as acting as a dog-walker, was walking a number of dogs in near Gravelly Hill in Caterham in Surrey.
‘It was plain this was not the first occasion that she had walked a group of dogs in that area.
‘She was not a member of any organised dog-walking association. Nor did she have any form of dog-walking certificate.
‘She had walked them on previous occasions without difficulty.’
Andrew Coutts was walking his dog in the area of the viewing point when he saw a woman walking six to eight dogs.
The inquest heard in his statement he had seen Ms Johnston – before she turned around and walked in the other direction.
The hearing in Woking, Surrey was told at this stage she called the dogs, and they obeyed her commands and followed her.
Mr Travers said: ‘He had seen Ms Johnston on previous occasions walking a number of dogs. On this occasion she took the same actions, namely turning around and walking in the other direction.’
Shortly after Ms Johnston had turned a corner, Mr Coutts said ‘he heard a commotion – including shouting and dogs barking.’
Mr Coutts then saw horse riders Michelle Clarke and Susan Dove ‘with one of the horses out of control’, according to Mr Travers.
Ms Clarke told the court in a written statement that she and her friend Susan had gone out to ride their horses around 2pm.
In evidence read to the court by Mr Travers and confirmed by Coroners’ Officer Jodie Gatenby, Ms Clarke said that while riding, ‘she heard a noise like a squeal but could not work out if it was a bird, an animal, or a person, so they carried on their way.’
She then saw Ms Johnston ‘sat or lying on the floor with four or five dogs around her tangled in leads before shouting ‘go back, go back’.
Two of the dogs ran towards [Ms Clarke and Ms Dove], and it was at that point that Susan’s horse became spooked, and she fell off.
They did not see Ms Johnston after this.
The inquest was told another witness Sam Ogden was walking her dog Bertie with a friend in Gravelly Hill, close the Viewpoint, when they came across a woman with around seven dogs.
‘One of the dogs began to mill around Bertie.’
Ms Ogden reported picking Bertie, a terrier-type dog, up as the dog which had approached her was larger.
She said in her statement, according to Mr Travers, that ‘she had then picked up Bertie as the dog seemed to change temperament.’
She said the dog had ‘seemed to be confused and seemed to go around in circles.’
Mr Travers added: ‘Ms Johnston called the dog to no avail.’
It was at this point the loose animal is said to have bit Ms Ogden .
He said: ‘Ms Ogden felt a searing pain as the dog bit her.’
Natasha Johnston then grabbed the dog by the back of the neck.
Mr Travers said that in her statement, Ms Ogden said the dog ‘continued to struggle – trying to escape from her.’
Shortly after that incident Mr Travers told the hearing that Ben Kershaw was walking with his mother when he met two police officers who asked them whether they had seen a woman with a number of dogs. At this point, they had not.
But he later spotted some of the dogs which were ‘off their leads and running around’.
Mr Kershaw got closer to the dogs and ‘saw that two dogs had blood on their snouts’ down a nearby slope while obstructing an object.
After getting closer, he managed to see that it was Natasha Johnston’s body.
Mr Travers said: ‘He now had seen the object on the floor was the body of a woman.
‘The woman was in a dishevelled state.’
Reading from Mr Kershaw’s statement, Mr Travers said: ‘He was approached by a sausage dog. He could hear other dogs.
‘There were dogs standing off the right-hand side of the path that were barking and seemed to be in an agitated state.
‘There were two or three dogs standing over something. The dogs, trees, and branches were obstructing his view.
‘At that time, one of the dogs noticed him and ran towards him and noticed it had blood on the top of its snout.
‘I notice the large dog had blood on its snout and jaws.
‘I called out to her to see if there was any response but there was no response.
‘He checked her pulse on right arm and her neck.
‘He then goes on to describe seeing a number of puncture wounds.
‘He called 999 and asked for the police and an ambulance.
‘He was then given instructions on how to perform CPR.’
Mr Travers concluded: ‘On their advice, he started CPR. At time point his mother appeared and he told her to go and get the police officers they had seen.
Pathologist Dr Ashley Fegan Earl gave Natasha’s medical cause of death as 1A shock and haemorrhage including perforation of the left jugular vein – and 1B multiple penetrating dog bites to her torso, neck and arms.
The inquest heard that Ms Johnston’s brother, Jordan, had confirmed his sister’s age, occupation, marital status and date of death to the court on January 16, 2023 – four days after she died.
Jordan also confirmed in a written statement that Natasha ‘was very comfortable with dogs and other animals.’
The bereaved brother added that Natasha was ‘very familiar with all the dogs in the group.’
Jordan added that the group of eight dogs that Natasha was walking when she died belonged to people she was close to, and that ‘she had walked the same group of dogs on numerous occasions over a long period.’
The inquest did not hear which dog had been responsible for Natasha’s death. But it was previously reported two of her own dogs which were being walked on the day had since been destroyed including a banned bull terrier named Stan.
The other six dogs have all been returned to their owners.
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