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 is such a worry if you live by yourself and something happens to you.
My mum had a stroke and she was unconscious for the whole day. This was premobile days. She was supposed to be at work, didn't turn up, but no one decided to try to contact my Dad. Or to see if she was ok. Or do anything. That would have changed the outcome.

I can imagine that someone with a child can be missed when they aren't seen out, aren't attending something - and the poor parent has had an accident leaving the child alone. So so sad and having a regular check in, point of contact is such a good idea.

Really, this is something that single people should have anyway - someone who would notice if they didn't make contact.

RIP

Has Right Care, Right Person been introduced in Skegness? I know of two other instances (thankfully not involving children) where someone has died because the police wouldn't intervene because of RCRP. On one occasion, they said they wouldn't enter unless the social worker could see a body.

My sister has my mums ring doorbell on her phone. So if we haven't heard from my mum all day we check to see if she's been out on the ring camera.

It is so so sad!! I get a horrible feeling when I imagine how alone and confused he would have been.

We can only wait to see how much of the case is revealed to the public but this just really goes to show home important checking up on people is. Some people just are not close to family - not everyone has a big do or visitors or plans over Christmas. For many of us it would be whoever we speak to regularly or work that might have been able to intervene earlier or notice something was strange - in this case SS.

It’s a very sad a rare case and I don’t know what could have been done better apart from the mum being there and seeing her son!.We don’t yet know the circumstances that meant she was away for so long.

Just tragic.

You say that. But my ex has never let me contact my children when they are with him and neither the courts nor cafcass care, so you need to understand that it's just not that simple in some dynamics

I’ve just woke up to all of these replies.

I didn’t intend for this post to become about who’s blaming who, or who’s not done their job or whatever. It doesn’t matter, it’s absolutely tragic in every sense and pointing fingers with only assumptions is insensitive.

@MelBB86 I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m unsure who your thread replies are too as I meant no offence by my post, it was simply to share condolences and comfort for my own anxieties surrounding this exact situation. I unfortunately can’t control who or what people reply to the thread so I hope you know I didn’t mean to cause any upset.

You poor darling. Someone in my family was dead 10 days before being found. It's terrible but it does happen sometimes. We know we didn't contribute to their death and we're so.lucky not to have been subjected to spiteful gossip. Sending love x

People blaming the relatives I assume. As if in most families relatives are all phoning each other several times a day and popping in weekly on the off chance someone has a cardiac arrest and dies 🙄 even where there is a child in need plan or the parent has a health condition it's still not usual for relatives to spend half their lives checking up on each other. This was a tragic accident and the relatives are not to blame. Nor is the mother - we have no idea why she didn't make contact herself. The poor boy died in a relatively short period of time between the father dying and them being found. It's a tragic accident. Blaming anyone is unwarranted.

I can’t get over how tragic this is. It has broken my heart and disturbed me greatly. I wish I could rescue that baby.

It is so so sad and is a tragedy for both of them.

Re the anxiety this has brought up in you. As another has said this is a very rare event, which is why it has generated so much news.

When we become mothers we are hardwired to want to keep our children from dangers and most parents see the world as more dangerous than when before they had children.

This always hits extra hard when your child is the same age as that of a child that died (or even been left with injuries). It’s because you are dealing with a two year old on a daily basis that your mind can so easily imaging what that poor little boy was thinking. Perhaps in some way evolution depends on us taking on board what has happened to others to make our own children safer.

Let’s hope that things are learned that will help children be safer in the future.

If this is really troubling you, perhaps you can implement something that will ease your worry. Can you text a family or friend daily if this is preying on your mind. Let certain people have a spare key or know who has a key.

I know people who have an Alexa so they can keep an eye (ear) out for elderly relatives.

If this is a big worry to you and you find a strategy to deal with a ‘worst possible scenario’ it will relieve your anxiety.

Poor little boy, and I like many others do wonder why the mother wasn’t in touch, or if the police acted on the SWs concerns.

Im sure there are others feeling the same way as you.

Longer quote –

Sarah said she would never forgive herself for not having a chance to be there for him.

She added: “It is haunting me. If I can fall asleep at all, it is only for a few hours. I jolt awake thinking of him wandering around alone, starving.

"He must have been so weak in the end that he decided to give up and hold on to his dad, hugging his legs. I will never forgive myself for not being there.

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.”

Social workers visited the rented property where Bronson lived with the dad he “adored” on January 2 and again two days later, but there was no answer.

They asked Sarah if she had received any messages from Kenneth, but gave her no indication there was anything to worry about.

Social services contacted police both times, but there was another five-day gap before Bronson and Kenneth’s bodies were finally found on January 9.

“I knew there was no way that Kenny would let anything happen to Bronson. He would never lay a finger on him.

“Social services were involved, so I knew they were around and they were checking in.

“Kenny and I had argued in November and if he said no, he meant no. So I backed off a bit and gave him space.

“I will never stop regretting that now. I can’t sleep because every time I close my eyes I see his face.”

Wrong of her to try and pin it on SS but with this longer quote, I agree that when SS asked her if she'd heard from the Dad, maybe they could have let her know they were having trouble making contact. Unless that goes against confidentiality rules or something.

when SS asked her if she'd heard from the Dad, maybe they could have let her know they were having trouble making contact. Unless that goes against confidentiality rules or something.

they must have told her that they couldn't contact him. Otherwise why would they have been asking her if she had heard from him? It certainly wouldn't have breached any confidentiality rules to share worries with her about her own son.

Surely if SS contacted you, you would be concerned enough to try and contact the person who was with your DC

Exactly. She is projecting on SS. As a parent it is YOUR duty to care for and worry about your kids. You cannot outsource this or at least you should not. There are other kids similar ages in her care, she made the decision to leave her little boy there.

Don't know if this has been mentioned already but there have been reports that a neighbour heard Bronson's dad shouting at him multiple times in the days before he died. His dad was out of work and had difficulties moving about. He also had heart problems and was jaundiced. Looking after a toddler on your own can be hard work even when you're fit and well, but having ongoing health issues like that would have made it substantially more challenging. The question for me is why the child wasn't taken into care by children's services before this tragedy occurred. I expect there is going to be a lot of blame-shifting going on between SS, the police and family members.

Agree with you here; It saddens me that this child was failed in this way. I’ve read a bit of commentary from friends and neighbors trying to paint the family in a good light, but tbh, child services doesn’t call around to homes where children are loved and well cared for, now do they?

I think the agency as well as (specially the family) are the only ones to blame here. The agency because they should never have let it go that long before establishing contact, and the mother for having the audacity to say that child services job is to protect kids 😭😬… pointing fingers whilst not protecting her own child is mind blogging.

ALSO, how wasn’t his cries heard? Presumably he would been crying, no? Hungry? Scared? Needing a diaper change?? How can a fucking neighbor hear that and not act??? A dog barks incessantly in my neighborhood and I call the cops!

Re above comments – as I said, it's 100% not SS's fault, and 100% onus is on the actual parent.

But it sounds more like it was a "Have you heard from Kenny?" rather than an explicit "we are unable to contact Kenny and Bronson".

Putting aside the fact that Sarah and the newspaper's testimony are likely unreliable: IF true, sometimes misunderstandings do just crop up. I work with on-the-ball, responsible people, and sometimes lapses in communication occur.

Yes, AGAIN, it is 100% on the mother to ensure her child's safety. But given that SS deals primarily with negligent parents who need hand-holding, it might be better to take a very explicit tack.

The neighbour that's made that statement isn't a trustworthy source, and it also contradicts every other statement given about my Dad's relationship with Bronson. There's no way he would have shouted at a toddler like what's been made out.
My Dad was a qualified plumber and gas fitter for the majority of his life, he was also working as a handyman and painter and decorator for his landlord/landlady up until about a year prior to his death, and having full time care of Bronson.

Social services became involved in September/October 2023 due to a police callout at Sarah's property, when neighbours had heard screaming in the night. Visits were then also made to my Dad and Bronson aswell. Social care were visiting Sarah and the other children twice weekly, and making 4weekly visits to my Dad and Bronson. The reason SS and the police weren't able to gain entry is because theyre bound by protocol, and a child in the care of a parent with PR, isn't cause for concern, nor reason to gain entry.
If Sarah had notified them of health concerns sooner, the fact he'd suffered a heart attack in October, or even passed on details of other family to confirm he wasn't in Sheffield visiting, then this could have raised the alarm sooner, and police could have had the power to gain entry.

There is only Bronson's Mum blaming SS or police, us as other family members, absolutely believe that the responsibility of a child's safety and wellbeing, lies with the parent, and the missed opportunities to speak up and potentially prevent Bronson's death, falls on his mother.

On the last visit to my Dad in September, there was no sign of any jaundice, and hadn't been ever before. I'm not entirely sure if that statements correct, or factual.

What's said to the media, and then their own narrative that they then portray, is very far from the truth of a situation. Horror stories of ss failings sells. There needs to be a rapid review to look into where there were potentially chances to have saved Bronson's life, but that doesn't mean that those services are to blame.

Sarah will always have her grievances with Social Care because unfortunately she'd grown up within the alcare system herself, and had 6 children taken out of her care previously before moving to Skegness, and meeting my Dad.

As I've said so many times, the media will print what they like to form their own narrative, often so far from the truth. The truth will come out though.

Perhaps people should hold of on forming opinions from the gutter press, until they can access all information, and make an informed view.

@MelBB86 I agree with you -The press, especially the gutter press will sensationalise and make stuff up, and distort what people have said.

It is a tragedy what happened, Bronson's mother really should have been trying to contact her son to speak to him- it's easy enough with mobiles these days...perhaps then the absence of anyone answering may have alerted her to something being amiss.

But for whatever reason she didn't.

Growing ups in the 'Care' system herself, she clearly never had good, stable loving parenting modelled to her.. hence losing her own children in turn to the care system.

It is so often a cycle of deprivation.

It's a tragic case, and must be extremely upsetting for the family.

@MelBB86 I thought it was odd that she gave that much detail about the shouting, yet she didn't hear the toddler's crying and the silence from the adults after his Dad passed.

But the NSPCC (or whatever it's called) confirmed that a report indeed had been lodged as she claimed, so I figured maybe she was just away over the Christmas break.

Either way I don't think the shouting or not is particularly relevant. The neighbour said he tried to be a good dad but found single parenting overwhelming. The main cause of the poor boy's death was the dad having a heart attack, not any sort of abuse.

Children can't just be taken into care. A very strict process must be followed with evidence supplied to court. Please hold on to the fact that the father didn't cause Bronson to die. This was an accident, and not predictable. There is no way that services could have predicted this.

Tragic. Poor kid.

I have zero empathy for the “mother”

The same neighbour also said she was confident the father never physically abused Bronson. Basically he was really stressed and shouty. Yes, it might still be verbal abuse, but clearly that did not cause the child's death.

Trying so hard to blame children's services...yes in fact we do go to houses where children are loved, most parents do love their kids even if they are struggling for various reasons to care for them well enough. Just because there is a social worker involved doesn't mean the threshold for removing a child is anywhere near met.
There is a statutory framework for visiting children depending on what type of plan the child is on (and the level of risk). A child in need plan means visits take place no more than every 4 weeks. A social worker may visit more than that but if they don't, they aren't failing in their job, because that's the statutory requirement. People always, always want to blame social workers for not saving children but in this case it was an accident and unless the social worker had been there 24/7 would not have been prevented. The social worker in fact went above and beyond to get into the house and get police to get into the house. She is to be commended, not blamed.

You have no evidence either way about what the social worker said or how she said it. It's pointless to speculate about it, as you have no idea. I can tell you that if I was working with this family I wouldn't contact the non resident parent to ask casually 'have you heard from dad' without being explicit the reason I was doing so; because I could not get hold of him and was concerned. Why else would she have made that phone call? Think about it.