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 so easy for us to say what we would do in such a situation but fortunately we are all unlikely to ever find out

@MelBB86 irrespective of your personal situation which I am so very sorry for I do agree with you in a broader sense.

Whenever there is a tragedy involving a child (and unfortunately there have been many lately) there are posts of this sort of nature, judgement combined with saccharine over the top sort of posts. I get that it is difficult to get the tone right with tragedies of this nature.

I obviously don’t know the people or situations but it isn’t hard for me to imagine that the child’s mother is beside herself with grief and is lashing out. What anyone here would have done differently or can’t understand doesn’t matter.

A lot of people will feel guilty. I imagine the police will be very upset and wishing they had acted sooner, the social worker(s) will also wish they’d done more, neighbours, friends. If only I’d … becomes a mantra. But it is not anyone’s fault. The bare bones of this case just indicate a particularly tragic set of circumstances and I don’t think blame helps.

Guilt is never a helpful emotion. It changes es nothing and it means we ruminate and we destroy ourselves. Grief though is not. Grief is a kind emotion, we move through anger and sadness and denial and slowly to acceptance.

He is at peace now, I am sure of that, as is your dad. They are beyond suffering or pain or sadness. My thoughts are with you and with yours and like many others I am so sorry for your loss

I’m so sorry for your loss and so sorry you have to read all this.

Thankyou!! One of the only comments on this entire thread that actually speaks any sense to me in all of this. It's such a shame that other's will still more than likely still be unwilling to comprehend any of it.
The only positive, we as family, can take from any of this, is that we were told thay they both looked peaceful, and as you've said yourself, we believe they're away from any suffering, and pain.
I can't speak for Bronson's Mum, (we had very little relationship for years), but myself and my Brother, our Mum (who spent 22years of her life with my Dad), our half sister, and all of our children are truly devastated by what's happened. We all loved my Dad and each of those children, and would have done, and still would do anything we could to help, if we could, or if we'd have been made more aware of the situation at the time. It's a truly tragic accident, that many can learn from, and hopefully no other family will have to experience the true heartbreak it causes. Things like this can affect families for generations, and having young children myself, and a younger brother and sister, I truly hope that once the inquiries completed, that my Dad and baby brother can rest peacefully, and that we can all begin to grieve properly.

@MelBB86 I am so sorry for your loss, it really is so tragic.

@soupfiend

That it’ll happen again. Missed opportunities. Neighbours, police etc. I don’t know why you are focusing on the single parent/illness/happen to anyone angle. It would still be awful if the only loss of life were the father. Are you a social worker?

Families don’t always check in every day, people have lives, they’re busy, it’s usually neighbours that notice things- lack of the usual activity. In this case it does look like the police could’ve and should have done a welfare check.

'They' (me) might visit more regularly if I was doing something specific with the family that requires weekly visiting but a 'high risk child' would move to being considered to be under a CP plan, where visits are 2 weekly

However, as posters have already said, whether this child was open to services is neither here nor there, its a tragic accident that could happen to any family

I havent seen the photo of him covered in bruises and scratches, who says he was 'high risk'?

Of course it will happen again because unfortunately people die in their homes and if they have children then unfortunately the child could be at risk. And yes its awful if someone is a person on their own, it happened to an elderly relative of mine who died on her own in her home and we didnt realise for a while.

People seem to be inferring through posts that because the child was open to services that somehow there is blame somewhere, either by way of the parents or the services but its a tragic accident that does happen.

It may well have been from the dates people are talking about that the welfare check would have come too late, who knows.

So sorry this has happened to your family

@MelBB86 so sorry for your loss and I truly hope you get the privacy and space to grieve x

It's very very sad @ThirtyFlirtynThriving

We're all so busy we can't catch up with family and friends often enough can we and this tragedy is an outcome of how ridiculously busy and self absorbed we are.

But this is incredibly rare - thankfully - and it won't happen to you because you can do things to make sure of it. Agree with a friend/family member that you will check in with them at a specific time every x days and do it religiously. Add something to both your calendars so you remember to do it and notice if it doesn't happen. You can move the time date if it clashes, but keep the drum beat up. Hope this helps.

I really think posters should stop posting critical comments about the family. It isn’t their fault at all.

@soupfiend it's te picture of him sitting on dads knee.

I’m not sure what else this social worker is supposed to have done. I see they are off work and I hope they are ok. Also the landlady because this must have been awful.

The mother may already have some grievances with SS if there is a history there and is lashing out at her nearest target. She may not win mother of the year but she has lost a child in indescribably awful circumstances and she has my compassion for that.

At the moment it’s unclear what decisions the police have made and based on what. I will reserve judgement until more is explained.

Plus Peaches Geldof... She too died of an overdose while one of her little sons was with her.

Why wasn't the boy's mother in contact with the father about their son??
Over ten days? That's a heck of a long time to not be in contact with your child, even if he is living with his father.

Police should have gained entry far sooner.
Did no one hear the poor child cry out, or even the dog ?

Surely a starving, frightened thirsty child would cry?

It's a very sad case.

I am not understanding why the police would randomly gain entry to someones house? No reports were made, they are not psychic.
News reports were that she had not seen her son since November. I am sorry but I judge any mother than not only walks out on her small child but doesnt even show up around xmas. I dont care what beef you have with the other parent thats just not right.

And I seriously cannot understand how she can blame SS and say THEY are meant to keep kids safe. SHE should have been keeping her own child safe. Talk about a total shitshow.

Social worker allegedly contacted them twice.

{I did have a friend whom I was worried about, and he was indeed found deceased in his flat by police who were called when friend wasn't answering phone or door}

The little boy's mother absolutely should have been in very regular contact with her son, even via phone.
For his sake.

Not all mums are able to care for their children social services were involved with the family. The people who knocked at the door and got no reply should have powers to do more than walk away

Which people? Social workers? Are you really asking for social workers to have the power to go into people's homes without their permission? Take a minute to think about what you're proposing. Police have powers of entry but only under very specific circumstances. And that's the way it should be.

I hate all the hate being focussed on SS. They were in contact, they visited and appropriately escalated to the police immediately, plus revisited and eventually managed to gain access. Where were the police and where were relatives while the poor mite starved?

Because she’s grieving.

She may have a lifestyle that meant meeting the child’s needs was difficult for her and I think we can all read between the lines. She’s lashing out and grieving and the newspapers know what they are doing by publishing what she’s saying.

@jannier

They didn’t ’walk away.’ Well, they did in a literal sense I suppose but continued trying to gain entry and contacted the police.

They did everything right. I am the first to be critical of SS in some instances (Arthur, Star, Leiland-James) but in this instance they were completely appropriate and professional and are probably very upset themselves.

That’s a really good idea.

MelBB86 i have nothing but sympathy for you and your family and can only begin to imagine the hell you must be going through, i hope you are being well supported. There is no blame laid at your door.