A FRAIL and heartbroken couple plan a protest because police have still not returned their dog - nearly four months after he was seized by armed officers.

Carole Roberts of Ronkswood, Worcester has developed convulsive shaking and feels suicidal after police took her beloved Dylan because he is suspected of a fatal attack on another dog.

Police have confirmed that a dog had to be put down after a savage mauling by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in Worcester in August last year.

But the great grandmother maintains the description of the attack dog does not match her Dylan who is innocent and 'wouldn't hurt a fly'.

Mrs Roberts, 72, says she suffers from panic attacks, sleepless nights, weight loss due to worry and has been prescribed antidepressants by her doctor since her 'Dill' was taken.

Meanwhile, her 79-year-old husband who has had three heart attacks, is on dialysis because of his failing kidneys and can only walk to the end of the drive with the aid of a stick, says he will still join the protest outside Worcester Police Station, describing what the couple have been through as a 'living hell'.

The pensioners have not seen their dog since the raid at her home in Guildford Close on December 11 last year when officers with riot shields and Tasers took him away.

They felt unable to celebrate Christmas or Easter without him - Good Friday was the couple's 55 year wedding anniversary which they had to spend in the absence of Dylan.

Now Mrs Roberts says they want to move out of their home, where they have lived for 32 years, because it reminds them of the day their dog was taken. He is now being cared for in kennels.

The feisty pensioner has vowed to put a chair outside the police station so her frail husband can still take part in the protest as they fight together to get him back.

Busy over Easter making placards, they have not decided what day they want to make their protest outside the station in Castle Street.

Neither Mrs Roberts nor her husband have ever been arrested or charged in connection with the alleged attack by Dylan. She said: "They know they have got the wrong dog."

She has also written to the city's MP, Robin Walker, asking for help. He has told her delays were caused because the Crown Prosecution Service has yet to make a charging decision.

Mr Walker wrote in a letter: "The CPS have advised that the case is subject to regular review, but a decision is not yet possible until other potential lines of enquiry have concluded. It is expected that this will be achieved by the end of April and the CPS expect to be able to make a charging decision then."

But an inconsolable Mrs Roberts said: "It's like losing one of your children. I feel suicidal most days but I wouldn't do it because I have to hold myself together. If it wasn't for my husband and my other dog Alfie I would have thrown myself in the river. I've told police that."

She says she is now under the care of doctors and when she explained her symptoms her GP told her it was down to the stress of losing the dog.

"The shakes are all over my body. I have told the doctors I feel suicidal all the time" she said.

Police seized Dylan under the Dangerous Dog Act. The animal lover, who has had Dylan since he was a pup, says 12 police officers came to her door searching for a Staffordshire Bull Terrier that had bitten another dog.

However, police said Dylan was taken as part of an investigation into an attack on another dog that left the animal so badly injured they had to be put down, and that only six officers attended Mrs Roberts' home.

Mrs Roberts, a great grandmother,who has recently lost her sister and her brother, was so upset she screamed and tore up the warrant in front of officers.

The mother-of-two said she cried and begged officers: “Please, please, please don’t take my dogs!”

They said they wanted to speak to her husband not her, as apparently it was a man walking the dog at the time. However, Mrs Roberts insists it could not have been her husband as he has not been well enough to walk the dog for two years.

The family has had eight-year-old Dylan, who has been castrated, since he was seven weeks old.

She also pointed out that Dylan did not match the description provided by police on the search warrant, issued by Dudley Magistrates Court under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

The torn-up piece of paper, since taped together, describes the dog they are looking for as black with a large, muscular body. She said her Dylan was small and brown with a patch of white on his coat.

West Mercia Police advised the Worcester News to speak to the Crown Prosecution Service about why Dylan had yet to be returned. We have asked for a comment from the CPS.