Bronson Battersby is the name of the two-year-old baby who died from starvation and dehydration. Next to the little deceased was the body of his 60-year-old father, who had died of a heart attack days before at his residence in Skegness, in the east of England.
The bodies were discovered on January 9. Five days ago, social services had visited Kenneth Battersby, the father, who, days later, on January 2, could not respond to the new visit from social services, who had not received a response or signs of life from the Englishman since then. . On January 4, the police were alerted, but an order to enter the home was not issued until a week after the encounter.
Sarah, the child's mother, blames social services for not being aware of the father's serious health and breaking, even though they were not given access, the periodic visit to the house. "They should have been able to guarantee the safety of our son," said the devastated mother, who had argued with her ex-partner just before Christmas and had not seen her son since then.
The Skegness town council has opened investigations into the case to be able to classify the actions of social services as negligent work or not. The social worker in charge of the Battersbys has taken voluntary leave after this traumatic event.
Police have indicated that, initially, there are no "suspicious circumstances." Preliminary investigation has ruled out possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Kenneth Battersby had been diagnosed with a heart precondition and had been classed as "vulnerable" by social services.
Children's services executive director Heather Sandy described the pair's deaths as "heartbreaking." "It's a tragedy that Kenneth died of a heart attack. He was home alone with Bronson and that meant there was no one left alive to look after the little boy, who sadly, as a result, has also passed away."
"No one would have predicted that Kenneth was going to get sick and die, so there is actually a significant amount of tragedy in this case," Sandy concluded.
A friend of the family, speaking to The Sun, described how they found the little boy hugging the father's legs. He must have screamed, I don't know how the neighbors didn't hear him. "Apparently a child at that age can last three to four days without food, it must have been torture," she added.
Furthermore, the friend quotes and replicates the mother's words, expressing her disagreement with the actions of social services: "If they had done their job, the child would be alive. How can you explain that they simply accepted that there was no response at home "Where did a vulnerable child reside?"
Neighbors in the area have dedicated themselves to the unfortunate case and have dedicated a few words to both deceased, very loved by all who knew them. Bronson was "the apple of his father's eyes, they were inseparable." Another family friend stated that the child was loved and his needs were met and that this was just a series of "unfortunate events."
To the loud condolences of the entire town has been added the goodbye of little Bronson's sister, Melanie, paying tribute to her brother through X (social network formerly known as Twitter): “My beautiful little boy, you deserved a life much better than this one. We love you, Bronson, you will always be a part of us, forever my little brother.”
