The sister of Bronson Battersby, the two-year-old boy found dead alongside his father in Lincolnshire, has said police and social services “did what they could” and she does not blame them.
Speaking as Lincolnshire county council carried out a “rapid review” into the death of the toddler, Melanie Battersby said she welcomed the local authority inquiry.
Bronson and his father, Kenneth Battersby, 60, were found dead at their home in Skegness on 9 January after a social worker was let into the property by the landlord. Bronson is believed to have starved after his father had a heart attack.
The rapid review will involve the council, police and any relevant health organisations.
Melanie Battersby, 37, the daughter of Kenneth from a previous relationship, who lives in Sheffield, said of social services on BBC Breakfast: “I don’t place any blame at all on them. 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. I’m glad that an inquiry is going to take place into whether there were any failings, missed opportunities. I’m really glad that is going to take place.”
She said she thought it “must be devastating for them [police and social services] to work in that profession, to have to deal with tragedies like this”.
Her father had had a heart attack a few months before his death. She said that had social services been told about her father’s health issues after they were first unable to contact him, it “could’ve been a different outcome for my baby brother”.
“I know how proud he was of every single one of us. He absolutely doted on [Bronson]. I think he loved doing what he was doing for him,” she said. “Seeing him with him, it was really, really heartwarming. It made me proud of my dad for what he was doing for his little boy. He tried his best for that little boy until his last breath.”
Lincolnshire county council has confirmed Bronson was known to children’s services and would typically be seen at least once a month by social workers. The authority has said a social worker communicated with Kenneth Battersby on 27 December and arranged to visit on 2 January, but there was no response when they arrived at the door.
The social worker “made inquiries at other addresses where the child could be” and contacted the police. A second unannounced visit on 4 January also went unanswered and Lincolnshire police were contacted again.
Bronson was last seen alive when he waved at a neighbour who called to see him and his father on Boxing Day, the Sun reported.
The boy’s mother, Sarah Piesse, 43, said she had not seen her son since before Christmas after she had a row with Kenneth Battersby. The results of the postmortem found that Bronson died of dehydration and starvation, according to his mother. “Bronson starved to death because his dad died,” she said. “They think Kenneth died no earlier than 29 December,” she told the Sun.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating Lincolnshire police’s actions before Kenneth and Bronson Battersby were found.
