Bronson Battersby's sister ‘does not blame social services’ after two-year-old boy found starved to death
19 January 2024, 08:27 | Updated: 19 January 2024, 08:29
The sister of tragic Bronson Battersby has said she does not blame social services over the two-year-old’s death.
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Bronson was found dead at his father’s legs on January 9. He is believed to have starved to death after his father, 60, suffered a fatal heart attack.
His adult sister, Melanie, 37, who has the same father as Bronson but a different mother, said she thinks “social services and the police did what they could with the powers they had.”
Had social services been told about her father’s health issues after they were first unable to contact him it “could have been a different outcome for my baby brother.”
“I don’t place any blame at all on them,” she told the BBC.
“I believe that social services and the police did what they could within the powers that they had and the information that they were given.”
"Every time I saw him he was happy, he was smiling, he learned to walk, he was learning to speak," she said. "We're devastated as a whole family."
Lincolnshire County Council has said a “rapid review” will be carried out.
Police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is also investigating.
Bronson’s father Kenneth Battersby was in poor health but looked after the child full time.
A social worker called at the property for a scheduled visit on 2 January and after getting no response at the door, spoke to her manager and the police.
She came back on January 4 and contacted police again. On January 9 she came back and gained access with the landlady where they found the pair dead inside.
It is believed that Mr Battersby died about a week before their bodies were found and that Bronson survived for two or three days after him.
"I was told that they were both found looking very peaceful," Ms Battersby said.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed on Thursday that Lincolnshire Police's actions before Mr Battersby and his son were found would be the subject of an investigation.
Regional director for the IOPC, Derrick Campbell, said: "The harrowing circumstances in which Kenneth and Bronson Battersby died are truly shocking. Our sympathies go out to everyone affected by their sad deaths.
"It is appropriate we carry out an independent investigation to consider the police response to any prior welfare concerns that were raised.
"We will be examining whether there were any missed opportunities by police to check on Mr Battersby and Bronson sooner.
"We will be in contact with Bronson's mother and Mr Battersby's family in due course to explain our role and how our investigation will progress."
Bronson's mother Sarah Piesse, 43, who did not live with Bronson, told the media she was "haunted" by thoughts of her "gorgeous boy" desperately searching for food and drink in the darkness after her ex-partner's death.
She said Bronson and Mr Battersby had enjoyed a Christmas dinner "with all the trimmings" and the leftovers would have been in the fridge.
She told The Sun: "All I can think of in my head is him, starving, reaching up and trying to get them. I can't bear it. 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."
Lincolnshire County Council is carrying out a "rapid review" of the case and the social worker involved has not been suspended, but is taking time off after their "traumatic experience".
