A DOG breeder claimed the inquest into her two-year-old grandson’s death was a ‘witch hunt’ against her.

Maria Bond, the grandmother of two-year-old Lawson Bond who died after he was mauled by one of her rottweilers, alleged she was being persecuted during the inquest into the toddler’s death - saying she felt like she was being put on trial.

Worcestershire’s senior coroner ruled on Monday (August 21) that Lawson’s death was the result of ‘misadventure’ after the two-year-old had managed to untie a security chain on a gate and entered a field used for exercising where he was then attacked.

The inquest revealed that despite Mrs Bond being a dog breeder and seller with more than 30 years of experience, she had never possessed, or even applied, for a licence.

Licences are required by law and Mrs Bond admitted to the inquest she had never held nor applied for one despite knowing it was a necessity. The coroner said Mrs Bond “knew perfectly well” she should have had a licence.

“I didn’t have a licence,” she said at the inquest at Worcestershire Coroner’s Court in Stourport. “I was aware of the licensing scheme and I should have looked into it more.”

Mr Reid said the fact that Mrs Bond, who at the time had eight rottweilers, did not have a breeding licence did not contribute to Lawson’s death in any way.

Mrs Bond continued to sell dogs after Lawson’s death and adverts for puppies for sale between £1,200 and £1,500 remain online.

During the inquest, Maria Bond claimed the coroner was orchestrating a ‘witch hunt’ against her.

Following the protocol of the inquest, after the coroner had asked his questions, Mrs Bond was invited to ask any questions of the witnesses and on several occasions used the opportunity to attempt to, in her words, defend herself.

This led to a tense exchange with Mr Reid who was forced to shout over Mrs Bond to demand she stopped attacking the testimony of witnesses and asking inappropriate questions.

Mrs Bond told the inquest that she, as a long-standing client of Henwick Vets, had reached an agreement to send videos of the puppies with their mothers, alongside evidence of microchipping, to the vets – as having to transport all the dogs together was a “nuisance” and she was unhappy about being forced to do it.

This came after the vets had brought in a policy in recent years that meant they refused to give injections to dogs without them first being microchipped.

Concerns were raised by another vet Caitlin McIntosh – who has since left the practice – after Mrs Bond had brought three puppies into the vets for injections months after Lawson’s death and gave the name of the mother as Tesla – a dog that, according to records, was registered as dead.

Ms McIntosh claimed that Mrs Bond refused to have the dogs microchipped because it was “too expensive,” which Mrs Bond denied, and the “strange” appointment had left her “worried.”

A puppy cannot be sold before it is eight weeks old or without a microchip - which has a unique number containing contact information – and it is the responsibility of the breeder to get each dog microchipped before they are sold.

Jeremy Hall, one of the directors at Henwick Vets, told the inquest that he believed there had been a “breakdown in communication” with Mrs Bond which meant she believed that as long as she had provided a video as evidence to the vets, she thought she could ‘just give any old name.’

Ann Robinson, another director at the practice in Henwick Road, Worcester, said in a statement that Mrs Bond handled dogs “better than anyone she knew” and “she had never been given a reason to doubt her authority.”