A mum-of-five was killed when she was caught in the middle of her two dogs fighting over one of her McDonald's chicken nuggets, an inquest heard.
Michelle Hempstead, 34, was attacked by her pet Mastiff-Rottweiler cross called Trigg on 29 July 2024 at her flat in Retort Close, Southend at around 11.07pm.
The inquest at Essex Coroner's Court heard the bite to her upper-left arm caused a cut to her artery leading to massive blood loss and multiple organ failure.
Ms Hempstead was initially taken to Southend Hospital for treatment then transferred to the Royal London Hospital, where she died the following day.
Her partner, Samuel West, who witnessed the incident, told the inquest it was a "freak accident", having previously described the dogs as not "vicious in any way, shape or form".
He said Trigg “didn’t have a bad bone in his body”, never showed his teeth and would sleep on Ms Hempstead’s bed.
Mr West said Ms Hempstead, who worked at Premier Inn, had previously fed Trigg food from her mouth.
He told the court the incident happened when her two dogs - Trigg and a Pomeranian called Pom - started fighting over a McDonald's meal Ms Hempstead was feeding them.
Ms Hempstead attempted to intervene, and Trigg "caught her" with a bite, with Mr West then pulling the dog away from her.
Giving evidence in court, Mr West said the couple had been eating McDonald's on her sofa and she was throwing pieces of chicken nugget in the air for her two dogs.
"She threw one in the air and Pom went to get the nugget and Trigg chomped his mouth. But as he's done that, Michelle turned away, and it looked like he'd gone to do the chomp and it caught her arm," he said.
"I remember grabbing hold of Trigg by his mouth and pulled him into the hallway. I came back in, and Michelle was gone."
Mr West said he spent time separating the two dogs and "wasn't aware" how seriously Ms Hempstead had been bitten.
The incident happened at Ms Hempstead's flat in Retort Close, Southend. Credit: ITV News Anglia
Senior coroner Lincoln Brookes agreed that the death was accidental, adding Ms Hempstead had received a mortal wound and death was inevitable.
A decision was made with her family to remove life-extending care and she died on 30 July, the day after the incident.
Mr Brookes accepted Mr West's evidence and said that Ms Hempstead had been "in the wrong place at the wrong time".
The coroner said Ms Hempstead had "adored" Trigg - who has since been put down - and that he was "otherwise a gentle giant" with no history of aggression towards humans or other dogs.Mr Brookes deemed that Trigg's bite was "not malicious".
In a previous statement, Ms Hempstead's family said: "She gave out what little she could to anyone, especially to the children.
"She was resilient and not afraid to speak her mind. She was always caring, strong, humble and extremely brave and resourceful to those less fortunate."
The court heard that Essex Police investigated the death over concerns that Ms Hempstead's partner was present at the time of the attack.
However, the police investigation concluded there were no suspicious circumstances involved in the death, and Ms Hempstead's partner faced no police action.
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[SRC] https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2025-09-29/mum-of-five-killed-by-dog-fighting-over-mcdonalds-chicken-nugget
