Pensioner claims she moved Bernese mountain dogs suspected of mauling a retired vet to death to another property 'as a deterrent to stop people breaking in'

A pensioner has denied trying to cover up her dog's alleged involvement in the deadly mauling of a retired vet who was found naked in his garden, covered in more than 1,000 bite and claw wounds.June Miles, 78, is accused of moving two of her five Bernese mountain dogs from her landlord Antony Harrington's country home after discovering him dead – including one called Nigel with a blood stain on his muzzle which matched Mr Harrington's DNA.Jurors heard the animals were found by police the next day in a derelict outbuilding at a farm where Miles had previously been living.A court heard 77-year-old Mr Harrington suffered more than 1,000 bite and claw marks to his head, neck, arms, chest, legs and back in the attack.On Tuesday jurors were played Miles' 999 call when she told the operator how she had arrived home and discovered his body.During the 15-minute call she repeated the phrase 'Oh My God' before adding: 'He's just lying there, he looks all chewed up.'Asked if Mr Harrington had been attacked by a dog, she replied: 'I don't know.'Warwick Crown Court heard Mr Harrington was found lying face down and 'completely naked' in the back garden of his home in Meriden, West Midlands, in November 2023. June Miles, pictured with a Bernese mountain dog, said she discovered Antony Harrington dead when she returned to his home on the evening of November 25 Antony Harrington, a retired vet, was found covered in more than 1,000 bite and claw injuriesJurors were told Miles owned four adult Bernese mountain dogs; males Nigel, Otis and Randy and a female, Phoebe, as well as the latter's puppy, Roger.All of the dogs, along with Mr Harrington's black Russian terrier, Red, and Miles's dachshund Mr Purple, lived with them at the widower's property, The Old Rectory.Giving evidence, Miles denied moving the dogs to her previous home at Yew Tree Farm – where she said she still had belongings – after finding him dead.She claimed to have taken them there before making the grim discovery to act as a deterrent to burglars.Miles told jurors she last saw Mr Harrington alive when she took him a cup of tea shortly before 9.30am on November 25.She said she put the three male Bernese dogs in a secure run in the back garden and left Phoebe and her puppy in a separate room.Miles said she then drove to buy petrol and dog food with Mr Purple before returning to the Old Rectory at around 12.15pm.She told the jury that the three male dogs were inexplicably loose in the garden. Miles has been using a wheeled frame to enter and leave Warwick Crown Court Mr Harrington was found dead at his country home in Meriden, West MidlandsMiles said she returned Nigel and Randy to the secure run before driving with Mr Purple and Otis to Birmingham to spend the afternoon with friends, who owned Otis's brother.She said she arrived back at the Old Rectory at 4.50pm and took the three male dogs and Phoebe to Yew Tree Farm, a ten-minute drive away.It was only when she returned 40 minutes later – leaving Nigel and Otis behind at the farm – that she found Mr Harrington dead, Miles told jurors.'I immediately came in the back door and phoned 999 because I could see he was deceased,' she said.'I don't know how long he had been deceased. He was lying on his front.'I thought they were bruises at first, but thinking about it they appeared to be dog bites, but I didn't get close to him.'I was absolutely distraught. I can't express how I felt. I was in complete and utter shock.'Asked why she left Nigel and Otis at Yew Tree Farm, Miles said: ' Yew Tree is not remote but is isolated from the other houses.'There had been several break-ins at the houses. Mine hadn't been broken into because of the dogs. They were a deterrent to stop people breaking in.'Asked if she had taken the dogs there because she suspected they had attacked Mr Harrington, she replied: 'No, why would I?'Miles also denied seeing blood stains on Nigel, saying: 'I would have noticed any blood if there had been, it would have stood out.'She said she was 'totally shocked' to later be arrested in connection with the tragedy.'I had never been arrested before,' she told jurors. 'I couldn't understand why they were arresting me. I was put into a cell for the night.'Asked why her account in court differed to the one given to police in interviews, she said: 'I told them what I could recall. I was in shock.'It was one of the most shocking incidents.'The court heard it was likely Mr Harrington had been attacked some time before 12.17pm, when he received a text which he did not reply to.During cross-examination, Miles denied moving Nigel to Yew Tree Farm at lunchtime after discovering Mr Harrington dead.'What I have told you is the truth and the whole truth,' she replied to prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds KC.He previously told jurors Mr Harrington's blood found on Nigel's muzzle gave a 'clear inference' the dog was involved in the attack.But the court heard investigators couldn't rule out the involvement of any of the dogs at the property.Miles, of Atherstone, Warwickshire, denies perverting the course of justice.She has admitted being the owner of a dog which caused injury while being dangerously out of control.That charge relates to an attack the day before Mr Harrington died, when his daughter Wendy Harrington was attacked by Phoebe when she entered her father's 'yard'.Miles will continue her evidence on Friday.The trial continues.