Neighbours of a missing mother-of-two who was eaten by her two pet sausage dogs as she lay dead in her home for up to a month have paid tribute to the ‘all-round wonderful woman’.
Jemma Hart, 45, was found to have been partially mauled by the dachshunds, called Millie and Frankie, when her lifeless body was eventually discovered at her house in Swindon on January 29 2024.
Concerned neighbours sounded the alarm after they reported her absence to police, having not heard from her since Christmas 2023.
Today they revealed they had been ‘surprised’ the sound of her pet dogs barking had not raised the alarm sooner and expressed regret that they did know she was having mental health struggles.
New occupants now live in her three-bedroom, mid-terrace modern home owned by a housing association.
A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Jemma was a lovely woman and everyone who knew her around here would agree.
‘She always had time to stop and chat. She was just an all-round wonderful person.
‘What surprises me is that the walls that partition her house from her neighbours’ homes are paper thin, so if the dogs were barking, clearly no one heard them for a long time.’
Jemma Hart, 45, was found partially mauled by her dachshunds when her lifeless body was eventually discovered at her home in Swindon on January 29, 2024
Another neighbour said: ‘What a truly awful tragedy. Everyone around here is devastated by this.’
Ms Hart’s death came as ‘a huge shock’ to her neighbours as they had no idea she was suffering from mental health struggles, they said.
One said she felt ‘incredible guilt’ that she had not picked up on Ms Hart’s mental illness before it was too late.
The neighbour said: ‘None of us had any real idea that she had mental health problems.
‘We just knew her as a friendly local who we would see out and about most days walking her dogs.
‘We’d sometimes stop and chat, but never a conversation that went very deep. If we’d known what she was going through, we’d definitely have kept more of an eye out for her.
‘It’s taught us a real lesson, which is that you can’t assume someone you see every day is as happy as they seem.
‘As a community, we’ve become much closer as a result of her death and now we will stop and talk to each other.
‘I guess we’re kind of checking in on each other and making sure everybody’s okay.
‘But of course that does not take away any of the incredible guilt I personally feel for not having picked up on what she was going through. It is absolutely heartbreaking.’
Residents previously told how they were used to seeing Ms Hart regularly walk her dogs and could often hear them barking in the back garden.
However, they called the police when a text message to her was left unopened and just one of the dogs was heard whimpering.
A post-mortem report carried out by toxicologist Peter Street confirmed Ms Hart died from suicide.
A police officer who attended the scene revealed that Ms Hart’s dogs had been eating her body after her sudden death, the Swindon Advertiser reports.
Coroner Ian Singleton concluded: ‘Jemma lived alone with her two dogs in Swindon and she was estranged from her family.
Jemma was found in her home with injuries caused by dogs after she died. Her death has been recorded as suicide.’
Mr Singleton told the inquest that Ms Hart was found dead in her living room after neighbours told police they had not seen her since Christmas.
He revealed that one of the dogs was also found dead and the other was in a ‘distressed’ condition.
Police said Ms Hart’s death is not being treated as suspicious.
At her inquest, Ms Hart’s son described his mother’s love for her sausage dogs.
He said: ‘She’d had dogs in the past but in 2022 she got a dachshund called Frankie and a year later she got another one called Millie.
‘Her house backed onto Lydiard Park where she regularly walked her dogs, and the dogs were her life.’
Ms Hart, who faced several health and mobility battles, had lived in her home for around 10 years.
Her physical difficulties forced her to stop working and she struggled with physical pain and insomnia.
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
