A GRIEF stricken stepfather kissed his "ideal daughter" goodbye the last time he saw her – before she was killed by a pack of savage dogs.

Jade Lomas-Anderson was staying at friend Kimberley Concannon’s the night before she died, aged 14, in Chaucer Grove, Atherton on March 26, 2013.

Her inquest, which started at Bolton Crown Court yesterday, heard that Jade's stepfather Michael only let her go for the sleepover because she had received a good school report.

The hearing had been delayed after Beverley Concannon, who owned the dogs which killed Jade, failed to attend court after being taken to hospital by ambulance at 7.30am yesterday.

Coroner Alan Walsh adjourned the inquest in the hope that Miss Concannon would be able to give evidence tomorrow.

Neighbours of Miss Concannon told the court that one bullmastiff, Buddy, among five dogs kept in the home, was kept in a cage because of its aggression.

Another former neighbour said Kimberley told her that her dogs had “killed her mate" and it should “would live with it for the rest of her life”.

Mr Anderson, who drove Jade to the sleepover, said: "I gave her a kiss and she went down the alleyway. I waited there while she walked down and then drove off after a couple of minutes."

He said Jade, who loved dogs after her family had previously owned a Shih tzu, was very well-behaved, polite, with good manners and the "ideal daughter".

He was told by wife Shirley, Jade’s mum, that she returned home to take some medication before going back to her friend's house.

But a neighbour knocked on their door at about 2.30pm saying there had been an accident.

Mr Anderson drove round and was told by police, who had closed the road, that Jade had died.

Mr Walsh said: "The latest situation with regard to Beverley Concannon is that about 15 minutes ago before I came in she was still being assessed at the hospital.

"It was expected that the assessment would take two hours. She is no longer in the emergency department but on a medical assessment unit."

Laura Tonge, who lived two doors down from Miss Concannon, said she had previously heard her saying no one would steal from her house "because they would not be walking back out”.

On the day of Jade’s death she went outside and saw Kimberley, who said to her: "My dogs have attacked my mate. I will have to live with myself for the rest of my life."

Kimberley Concannon said in a statement that she left Jade alone in the house to get a pie warmed next door and returned five minutes later to find her dead.

The neighbour she visited, Mr Carter, said bullmastiff Buddy was kept in a cage by Miss Concannon.

He said: "If you went near him he would bark and get aggressive."

Miss Concannon and Mr Spilsbury had been shopping in Atherton at the time of the incident.

Dr Naomi Carter, a forensic pathologist at the Royal Oldham Hospital, said Jade had died from multiple dog bites.

She added that Jade was "an entirely normal 14-year-old" with no other illnesses or traumas.

Fighting back tears, Mr Anderson asked Dr Carter: "I just want to know, did she suffer for long?"

She replied: "The honest answer is no, she didn't."

Miss Concannon received a 16-week suspended sentence last year after she admitted causing unnecessary suffering to bullmastiffs Buddy and Neo, and Staffordshire bull terriers Ty and Sky.

The hearing continues.