Bronson Battersby is on my mind tonight.

[ThirtyFlirtynThriving]

Utterly utterly heartbreaking story. I have a 2 year old and I just can’t fathom.

I have terrible general anxiety’s no health anxiety and one of my worst fears is to die at home while in sole car of my children, they’re so young they wouldn’t know what to do, or what was happening.. they wouldn’t be able to get out of the house alone and the thought of them scared, unable to wake me, crying alone makes me feel sick and awful. Reading about poor Bronson Battersby has really made me think.

The rest of the family must be devastated and given the circumstances and just the small details known from the media that’s something you can never-not think about. How does one get over that kind of grief?!

I hope Bronson is at rest now 🩵

It's horrific!

Op, do you have anyone you can arrange daily txt messages with? I know it might seem extreme but could ease your worries.

Not always. They will visit more regularly than that if needed. And the child is thought to be high risk. From the reports I read it seems to imply that they were on weekly visits. In one photo he's covered in bruises and scratches.

I can't even bring myself to think about this too much. It's horrific. And very rich of the mother to start blaming social services at this point. Why are they more responsible for checking in with her toddler than she is?

This is a horrible tragic situation. But the sad fact is it could (not likely op, but theoretically could) happen to any single parent without a support network. No blame to be attributed unduly in this situation. I just hope the poor little mite is at peace now.

It’s just too horrid to think about. And I think that the family having SS involvement is not really here or there. He could have been a wonderful father and had a heart attack. Any single parent could be in the exact same situation.

The poor landlady finding them though. I hope she is getting support.

I'm struggling very much with this news.

Having children the same age, young children are simply the embodiment of love, innocence, fun and are trusting and loving. In my mind they are the closest thing to a pure human soul we have on earth. That this little one suffered in this way is beyond tragic, and I've cried a lot, even though I never met him. The irony of the pudsey pyjamas just adds to the feeling of sorrow.

I'm hoping he's drumming his little drumkit with the angels in heaven.

@MadeOfAllWork this is such a tragic story and although everyone is rightly thinking of that beautiful little boy the poor landlord lost her husband and daughter in an awful accident a few years ago that shook up our whole town. Her and her son have had the most awful past few years and I hate to think what she's now going through again 😕

@mummydoris2006 - I was about to post similar. The landlady is, understandably distraught and has experienced such a lot of trauma herself over the last few years. I really do feel for her and the poor social worker.

This. Mum walked out before Xmas it seems and now blame SS. No idea what other family exist but SS are stretched to the hilt snd aren't there th parent all our kids.

I know and I keep thinking about him too. Wondering what he was doing on new years eve - was he alone then as we were clinking glasses? And on and on around my head.

Bronson and his dad had seen a neighbour on the 26th so they did have some contacts. And that's all we can do really - make contact and stay in touch with people around us, check on each other. And maybe, when children are old enough, make sure they know how to call someone if they need to.

I have worked with chaotic families in the past, I’m not a social worker.
Just looking at the photos of that poor child you can see that sort of lost look that children have that grow up in these kind of situations. It doesn’t mean they are not always loved the parents are just incapable and often lacking executive functioning skills, illiteracy and a history of chaos are high. They just don’t have much of a chance.

Us "now apparently devastated relatives" live 90miles away with families of our own, and did keep in regular contact with my Dad, and younger siblings. We'd been in regular contact over Christmas, and had offered for the pair to come over to us. More than can be said for Bronson's Mum who was so close by.
You're all gossip mongering about stories you're reading in the papers, that contain so many untruths. Being next of kin, and having the preliminary results of postmortem, liasing with the coroner at Leicester Infirmary, before the release of the bodies, working closely with the police during their initial investigation, and helping SS with their further inquiries, before a Government Inquiry into services was issued, I know how many of the gossips are getting it wrong, and it's so unfair to the two people that have lost their lives.
My Dad's body was believed to have been there a week, with Bronson passing away 2-3days later. The idea that their bodies were laying there for 2weeks before being discovered, is just ridiculous, and just adds to an already devastating set of circumstances.
Everyone will have an opinion on such a tragedy, but the truth will come out. Maybe then you can realise the true extent of the gutter press twisting the truth, to sell a story.

Not the photographs I have of them playing with my children, but of course your experience say it all.

It’s really bothering me too.

Well done to the social worker and shame on the police who it turns out could have saved him

What I find odd is that the absence of man and a 2yo, who did have family friend s and neighbours, went for nearly 2 weeks unnoticed - surely people would have been in contact with them and noticed the contact stopped? I think there’s a bigger question as to why we live in a world now where people would rather mind their own business than raise an alarm.

I’ve worked in child services. There is so much classism in the police. They probably went “Not going to that side of town probably just pissed and not answering the door”. So many don’t give a fuck about poor pr vulnerable people IMO

@MelBB86 I'm so sorry for your loss. Huge condolences on a terrible situation.

Just a friendly reminder that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are.

If this is in fact a family member I’m so sorry for your loss x

It's unfortunate it happened over the Christmas holiday season where of course they could have been visiting friends and family so police had less of a reason to go breaking down any doors to get in etc

That poor lady from SS really did make an effort and followed things up and informed the police then finally got a key from the landlord

They probably all wish they'd contacted the landlord sooner to get that key

It is very very sad

What's worse is that there was dog there from what I read who would have been hungry so the effects of that would have been traumatic for those that found them

Same. Absolutely heartbreaking 😞

@MelBB86 so very sorry for your loss. A tragic set of circumstances that lead to the deaths of 2 much loved members of your family. Sending you and your family my thoughts and prayers.

Poor little soul, RIP Bronson 🚒💐

I don't have kids but I have a cat who is like a child to me. If I left him with anyone, ever, I would be calling in at least twice a day to check.

Thankyou. Were all sorry to hear what's happened, its the sruff of horror stories, and not somethingyou ever think you'regoing to be living in real life.
I'm Ken's eldest Daughter. He has 2 older children from Sheffield (myself and my brother), and Grandkids, that all loved them. We visited atleast twice a year and stayed in regular contact via telephone and videocalls. I did live in Skegness myself for around 6yrs. I moved back to Sheffield 8yrs ago, following the birth of my second Daughter. Its unfortunate that having 3 children myself, and my youngest only being 3yrs old, that we didn't always manage to speak as often as some families would.

What would you really know by reading stories in newspapers? None of us were called by ss prior to the bodies being discovered. I was called by Sarah Bronson's Mum earlier that day. I was asked if he was in Sheffield, and told that they would be gaining entry if he hadn't made contact by the end of that day. The several calls I made to his voicemail, and the text message I'd sent asking if everything was OK, and for him to make contact, was already too late.
It's the people such as yourself that actually disgust me, speaking as if you know the circumstances surrounding a tragedy of complete strangers. I hope you feel better for making such remarks, but unfortunately it doesn't change anything for anyone does it?