Two dogs that fatally attacked a woman in Jaywick were XL bullies, Essex police have said. Esther Martin, 68, was killed at a home in the Essex village on Saturday after reportedly trying to break up fighting puppies. A 39-year-old man arrested on suspicion of dangerous dog offences remains on bail until 5 March. Ch Supt Stuart Weaver said the physical features of the two dogs destroyed at the scene by officers were examined by a police-trained expert and a forensic postmortem examination was carried out on them by a veterinary scientist. “Through this combination it was confirmed that the dogs were XL bullies,” Weaver said. He added: “I know there has been a huge amount of speculation about the breed and type of dog involved here, but it was really important we got that information right and established the facts. We owe it to Esther and her family to ensure we are thorough, professional and, above all, fair. “XL bully is not a breed of dog in itself, but a subcategory of the American bully and identifying categories of a breed can be a complex process.” Weaver added: “A team of experienced detectives are continuing their investigation into Esther’s death and continue to make good progress. They are committed to getting the answers her family need about what happened and why.” Martin’s daughter, Kelly Fretwell, 46, previously said her mother was visiting her 11-year-old grandson at a house that was home to eight XL bully dogs, including six puppies and the two adult dogs that attacked her. She paid tribute to her “amazing” mother, a retired Tesco worker with four children, and said Martin had tried to visit her grandchildren as often as she could. “She came to visit my nephew and now she is dead,” she said, adding that the child could have been killed as well. “This is a very distressing time for our family. If someone knocked on your door at night to say that your mum had been mauled to death, would you believe them?” Martin’s death is the first fatal dog attack in 2024 after seven deaths in 2023, a sharp increase on the average of three deaths a year from 2001 to 2021. The government has added XL bullies, the type of dog responsible for a number of recent attacks, to the Dangerous Dogs Act, and from 1 February it has been illegal to own one without registration for an exemption. Defra said about 35,000 people had registered their dogs by the deadline, but that estimates of the total number of XL bullies in the UK suggested thousands remained unaccounted for.