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The sister of Bronson Battersby who reportedly starved after being left alone for days when his father suffered a deadly coronary heart assault has stated she does not blame social services or police for the two-year-old’s death.
Speaking to the BBC, Melanie Battersby, 37, believed “social services and the police did what they could within the powers that they had”.
It comes because the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) stated it can examine “whether there were any missed opportunities” by Lincolnshire Police officers earlier than the deaths of the toddler and his father Kenneth Battersby, 60, at their residence in Skegness, Lincolnshire.
Mr Battersby is believed to have died of a coronary heart assault shortly after the pair have been final seen alive on Boxing Day, leaving Bronson at midnight with no meals or water. The two-year-old was discovered lifeless subsequent to his father’s physique two weeks later, with preliminary exams reportedly discovering that Bronson, who was underneath kids’s services care, had died of dehydration and hunger.
Lincolnshire County Council informed The Independent that social services spoke with Battersby on 27 December to organise a go to to the house on 2 January. After receiving no response that day, the council stated the social employee contacted police and made an unannounced go to two days later, after which they once more contacted police.
However, it was one other 5 days earlier than the daddy and son’s our bodies have been discovered on 9 January, after a social employee was pressured to realize entry from the owner to enter the property themselves.
Lincolnshire Police stated on Wednesday that it had referred itself to the IOPC over the incident. The watchdog confirmed on Thursday that it’s launching an unbiased investigation “to consider the police response”.
Lincolnshire Police additionally stated the precise actions of all organisations concerned can be analysed in a forthcoming overview, whereas the council stated it has launched a “rapid review” of the case.
Ms Battersby – who shares a father with Bronson – informed BBC Breakfast it “could’ve been a different outcome for my baby brother” if social services had been made conscious of Mr Battersby’s well being points after they have been first unable to contact him.
She stated: “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.”
Ms Battersby, who lives in Sheffield, thought it “must be devastating for them to work in that profession, to have to deal with tragedies like this”.
Paying tribute to the “beautiful, sweet-natured little boy”, Ms Battersby stated she final noticed Bronson throughout a household journey to Butlins.
She stated: “Every time I saw him he was happy, he was smiling, he learned to walk, he was learning to speak. We’re devastated as a whole family.”
Speaking of her father, she stated: “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. Seeing him with him, it was really, really heart-warming. 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.”
Ms Battersby added that she has discovered some consolation within the thought that the pair have been collectively of their final moments.
“I was told that they were both found looking very peaceful,” she stated. “That is the only consolation I can take. That my little brother snuggled up to my dad. He didn’t look in pain. Neither of them did. And they were together.”
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