A 78-year-old woman is on trial accused of perverting the course of justice after one of her dogs allegedly savaged a retired veterinarian to death. June Miles is accused of moving two of her five Bernese mountain dogs from Antony Harrington's country home, where she was lodging, after discovering the 77-year-old deceased.
Jurors heard that the dogs were found by police the next day in a derelict outbuilding at a farm where Miles had previously resided. One of the dogs, named Nigel, had a blood stain on his muzzle that was DNA-matched to Mr. Harrington. The court was informed that Mr. Harrington suffered more than 1,000 bite and claw marks to his head, neck, arms, chest, legs, and back in the attack. He was discovered lying face down and naked in the back garden in November 2023.
Prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds KC stated that Mr. Harrington was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics that evening. The court heard that Miles owned four adult Bernese mountain dogs: Nigel, Otis, and Randy, all males, and a female named Pheobe, along with Pheobe's puppy, Roger. All of these dogs, along with Mr. Harrington's black Russian terrier, Red, lived with them at the widower's property, The Old Rectory, in Meriden, West Midlands.
In a distressed 999 call played to the court, Miles informed the operator that she had arrived home and discovered Mr. Harrington's body. The prosecutor told jurors that the central issue they needed to consider was why June Miles moved two of the dogs, specifically Nigel, to the farmhouse where she used to live. Mr. Pawson-Pounds indicated that the presence of Mr. Harrington's blood on Nigel's muzzle provided a clear inference of the dog's involvement in the attack, though investigators could not rule out the involvement of any of the dogs on the property.
The court heard that Miles claimed to have been away from the property during the day of the attack. However, ANPR traffic cameras showed she had been in the vicinity of the house and had time to discover Mr. Harrington's body and move the dogs before traveling to Birmingham to see friends, as she had told police she did.
The jury was informed that Miles, who used a metal frame to enter and leave Warwick Crown Court, had admitted on the eve of her trial to being the owner of a dog that caused injury while being dangerously out of control. This charge related to an attack the day before Mr. Harrington's death, when his daughter, Wendy Harrington, was attacked by another of Miles' dogs, Pheobe, in her father's yard.
Ms. Harrington, in her 50s, testified that upon entering the yard through a side gate, she found herself cornered by Pheobe and the three male dogs. She described Pheobe grabbing and ripping her coat before biting her right thigh, buttocks, leg, and foot, causing a puncture wound through her suede boot. She stated that the male dogs were milling around during the attack, which lasted less than a minute but felt much longer. The attack concluded when she screamed for help, and Miles appeared, hitting the dogs with a metal dog feeding bowl.
Ms. Harrington told the court she wanted to report the attack but did not because her father begged her not to, as the dogs were "her [Miles'] life." She also recounted going to the property the following evening after her sister could not contact their father. Upon arrival, she was greeted by police and stated she knew an incident involving the dogs must have occurred due to her own experience the previous day. When officers instructed her to switch off her car engine and stay at the scene, she suspected her father was dead.
The court heard that Miles met Mr. Harrington, a retired vet, and his late wife approximately 25 years ago through the dog breeding community. Mr. Harrington's property included a gravel dog run at the rear. Ms. Harrington testified that when her father agreed to let Miles and her dogs stay at the address, she created a tenancy agreement granting Miles access to the "granny annexe," dog run, yard, and secure dog shelter. However, she noted that Miles appeared to have begun taking her dogs into parts of the main house.
Next-door neighbor Zoe Wild, who assisted Miles before paramedics arrived, stated that Miles knocked on her door and said, "Tony's in the garden. He's been bitten. I think he's dead." Mrs. Wild described Mr. Harrington's body as completely naked with his limbs outstretched, appearing white and blue, and resembling a "waxwork." She characterized the dogs at the property as "out of control" and recalled hearing them fighting in the weeks leading up to the attack.
Miles told police she found Mr. Harrington's dog loose when she discovered his body that evening and that she had moved two of her own dogs that morning to separate the animals following the previous day's attack on Ms. Harrington. In a later police interview, Miles provided mostly "no comment" answers, including when asked to explain how Mr. Harrington's blood was on Nigel's muzzle.
A pathologist determined that Mr. Harrington died as a result of multiple injuries, some of which were described as deep or extremely destructive. Miles, of Atherstone, Warwickshire, denies perverting the course of justice. The trial is ongoing.