A father-of-three who was killed by his pet dog had been bitten by the animal on two previous occasions, an inquest has heard.

Stephen Hodgson, 45, died after suffering horrific injuries to his head and neck in a “ferocious” 10-minute attack by Staffordshire bull/pit bull cross Buster in the family home on May 22.

Mr Hodgson’s daughters, Jade and Carla, tried desperately to prise the animal off their stricken father, the inquest heard, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

An inquest heard on Tuesday that three-year-old Buster had twice bitten Mr Hodgson in the months prior to the fatal attack; once on the arm as he tried to separate a fight between Buster and one of the family’s other three dogs, and a second time on the ear when Buster “just went for him”.

On the day of Mr Hodgson’s death, assistant coroner Robert Chapman concluded, there was “no indication of what caused the dog to attack”. Mr Chapman delivered a narrative verdict that Mr Hodgson died “from injuries when his neck, face and head had been bitten by a dog”.

The incident took place at a property on Robert Owen Avenue, Cleator Moor, where Mr Hodgson’s three children – twins Frazer and Jade, 19, and Carla, 17 – lived with their mother, Teresa O’Neill. Mr Hodgson lived at Aldby Street in the town, but spent a lot of time at his ex-partner and children’s home.

Mr Hodgson was a heavy drinker, the inquest heard, and although he had remained sober for a number of weeks, he had been drinking heavily in the days leading up to – and on the morning of – his death.

At around 1.40pm when Mr Hodgson, Jade and Carla were watching television in a bedroom, Mr Hodgson collapsed drunk and fell from the bed to the floor. This was said to have agitated Buster, causing him to “sniff and growl” around an unresponsive Mr Hodgson.

Jade took the dog out of the house, and she and her sister were able to lift their father partially onto the bed. As they did, Buster “barged” back into the room, Carla told the inquest.

She continued: “He jumped onto the bed, nudged him [Mr Hodgson] and then bit the back of his neck. We were both screaming for him to get off but we couldn’t get him off. We were frightened it would attack us.”

Mr Hodgson was unresponsive during the whole episode, the inquest heard, and he suffered severe injuries, largely to his neck.

When Buster stopped attacking, Carla was able to remove the dog from their father by dragging him by his legs before locking him in a bathroom. Carla, Jade and Frazer – who had run home from an address nearby – came to their father’s aid. Paramedics attended the scene but were unable to save Mr Hodgson who had died, a post-mortem concluded, from blood loss caused by a severed jugular.

Police dog-handlers were able to seize the family’s other three pets; Rocky and Stitch (two older Staffordshire bull terriers) and Axel (another Staffordshire/pit bull cross from the same litter as Buster). But when they were unable to seize Buster due to his aggressive state, officers deployed a Taser which fatally injured the dog.

Mr Hodgson’s family told the inquest Buster “was normally a good-natured dog”, adding: “Nothing had happened that morning to aggravate him.”

The inquest heard that Rocky and Stitch have since been returned to the family, but Axel has been put down.

Mr Chapman said: “It was clearly a ferocious attack and you [the children] did all you could to keep your dad alive but it was just not possible.”

At the time of Mr Hodgson’s death, Carla said: “He always tried to make everyone happy no matter if he was down himself. He was respected by a lot of people.” And Frazer added: “He was a good father, son, brother, uncle and my best friend. He will be missed by all of his friends and family.”