The local council has launched a ‘rapid review’ following the deaths
The mum of a two-year-old boy who was found starved to death next to his dad’s body said he was “two inches too small to open the fridge.”
On January 9, Bronson Battersby was found dead on the floor next to the body of his 60-year-old dad Kenneth Battersby.
The father had suffered a heart attack at some point between Christmas and New Year at their home in Skegness, leaving Bronson on his own with no food or water.
The father and son were known to children’s services and Lincolnshire County Council has confirmed a social worker spoke with Battersby on December 27.
A home visit was scheduled for January 2, but the social worker didn’t get an answer at the door. She rang the police as a result and tried to get more information from neighbours.
After two days without a response from Battersby and another attempt to visit the home on January 4, she called the authorities again. Five days later, after another visit with no response, the social worker contacted the property’s landlady, Maria Clifton-Plaice, so that they could gain access to the property.
Bronson’s mum, Sarah Piesse has paid tribute to her son, describing him as a “typical, cheeky, little two-year-old.”
Speaking to the Sun, she said: “He was always trying to get his favourite pink wafers.
“And then when we said no more, he’d smile and shout, ‘Yeah! More, more, more!’
“Kenny moved all the snacks higher up so he couldn’t get to them without asking.
“Now all I can think of in my head is him, starving, reaching up and trying to get them. I can’t bear it.”
She continued: “He was about two inches off being able to reach the fridge to open it.
“His last moments were spent alone and he must have been so thirsty and hungry. He will have been crying. He will have been so confused.
“And Kenny was there on the floor. I can only pray he thought his dad was asleep.”
Piesse said the fridge “would have been packed with Christmas leftovers.”
Lincolnshire County Council has confirmed a “rapid review” of the relevant agencies has been launched following the tragedy.
Meanwhile Lincolnshire Police has referred itself to police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) as part of standard procedures when there is a death or serious injury following police involvement.
Piesse said she is ‘haunted’ by her son’s death and questioned why “the alarm wasn’t raised sooner.”
“If I can fall asleep at all, it is only for a few hours. I jolt awake thinking of him wandering around alone, starving,” she said.
“When I picture him alone in that flat it makes me feel like a failure, cruel, selfish.
“That little boy was sitting there wanting a drink, wanting something to eat. It breaks my heart even more.
“I just don’t understand why the alarm wasn’t raised sooner. Why didn’t they do it? I am in a living nightmare and I am never going to wake up from it.”
The council’s executive director of children’s services, Heather Sandy, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One the deaths were “devastating.”
She said: “It is a tragedy that Kenneth died of a heart attack.
“He was at home on his own with Bronson and that meant that there was nobody left to give Bronson care, and sadly as a result of that, Bronson has also passed away.”
She added: “This is absolutely devastating for us and very much more devastating for the family, and our thoughts are with them.”
Sandy told BBC Look North the counci’s review would be completed within around 15 days and the findings would be passed to a national panel to make a decision on the next steps.
She explained: “We’d normally be visiting the families at monthly or less intervals, so in terms of that timeline between the 4th and the 9th, that will be the subject of a rapid review.
“What’s really important is that we understand fully what has happened, so the rapid review will allow all of those agencies to come together and to look at what has happened.”
“Nobody had anticipated that Kenneth was going to be poorly and die and so actually there is a significant amount of tragedy within this case.”
