Dog owner, 78, accused of trying to hide blood-stained Bernese mountain dog after retired vet, 77, was savaged to death in his garden

By ANDY DOLAN, GENERAL REPORTER Published: 16:38, 18 August 2026 | Updated: 16:38, 18 August 2026 A 78-year-old woman has gone on trial accused of perverting the course of justice after one of her dogs allegedly savaged a retired vet 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 dead. Jurors heard the dogs were found by police the next day in a derelict outbuilding at a farm where Miles had previously been living, One of the dogs, called Nigel, had a blood stain on his muzzle which was DNA-matched to Mr Harrington. The court heard 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 found lying face down and 'completely naked' in the back garden following the attack in November 2023. Prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds KC said Mr Harrington was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics that evening. The court heard Miles owned four adult Bernese mountain dogs; males Nigel, Otis and Randy and a female, Pheobe, as well as the latter's puppy, Roger. All of the 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 distressing and largely inaudible 999 call which was played to the court, Miles told the operator how she had arrived home and discovered his body, adding: 'I think he's dead…what do I do, what do I do?' June Miles had five Bernese mountain dogs, Warwick Crown Court heard Antony Harrington was found face down in his garden and suffered more than 1,000 bite and claw injuries, the court heard Later in the 15-minute call, a screaming Miles repeated the phrase 'Oh My God' before adding: 'He's just lying there.' The prosecutor told jurors the issue they needed to consider was 'why June Miles moved those two dogs (Otis and Nigel), specifically Nigel', to the farmhouse where she used to live. Mr Pawson-Pounds said Mr Harrington's blood found on Nigel's muzzle gave a 'clear inference' that 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. The court heard Miles claimed to have been away from the property during the day of the attack, but 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 travelling to Birmingham to see friends as she told police she had done. The court heard it was likely Mr Harrington had been attacked some time before 12.17pm on November 25, when he received a text which he did not reply to. The jury were told 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 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 another of Miles' dogs, Pheobe, when she entered her father's 'yard'. Ms Harrington, who is in her 50s, told jurors upon entering the yard through a side gate found herself 'cornered' by Pheobe and the three males. Jurors heard June Miles owned five Bernese mountain dogs, including four adults (pictured: a stock image of the breed) She described how Pheobe grabbed and ripped her coat before biting her right thigh, buttocks, leg and foot, which suffered a puncture wound after the dog's teeth pierced her suede boot. As the attack, which 'lasted less than a minute but felt much, much longer', was unfolding, the three male dogs were 'milling around', she said. Asked by Mr Pawson-Pounds whether she remained standing during the attack, she replied: 'Yes, because I knew if I allowed them to take me down it was going to hurt and I wasn't going to get back up.' She said the attack only ended when she screamed for help from Miles, who appeared with a metal dog feeding bowl and began hitting the dogs with it. The court heard said she wanted to report the attack but didn't - because her father begged her not to as the dogs were 'her (Miles') life'. Ms Harrington told the court the next evening, she went to the property after her sister had been unable to contact their father. When she arrived at the house, she was greeted by police and said she knew there must've been 'an incident involving the dogs' because of what had happened to her the day before. She said when the officers then told her to switch her car engine off and to stay at the scene she 'suspected my father was dead'. The court heard Miles met Mr Harrington and his late wife, who was also a vet, around 25 years ago through the dog breeding scene. His property had a gravel dog run at the rear, jurors were told. Ms Harrington said that when her father agreed that Miles and her dogs could come to stay at the address she drew up a tenancy agreement which granted Miles access to the 'granny' annexe, dog run, yard and secure dog shelter. But she told the court it appeared that Miles had started to take her dogs inside parts of the main house. Next-door neighbour Zoe Wild, who came to help Miles before paramedics arrived, said Miles knocked on her door and told her: 'Tony's in the garden. He's been bitten. I think he's dead.' She said that when she discovered Mr Harrington's body he was 'completely naked' with his limbs outstretched. Mrs Wild added: 'He was white and blue. It was completely obvious he had passed away, he was like a waxwork'. She described the dogs at the property as 'out of control' and said she heard them fighting in the weeks leading up to the attack. Miles told police she had found Mr Harrington's dog loose when she discovered his body that evening, and had moved two of her own dogs that morning because she wanted to separate the animals following the attack on Ms Harrington the previous day. She gave largely 'no comment' answers in a later police interview, including when asked to explain how Mr Harrington's blood was on Nigel's muzzle. A pathologist found that Mr Harrington died as a result of 'multiple injuries'. The court heard some of the pensioner's wounds were deep or 'extremely destructive'. Miles, of Atherstone, Warwickshire, denies perverting the course of justice. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.