Toddler starves to death next to father’s body in UK after social worker’s delay raising alarm

The body of a UK toddler has been found, dressed in pyjamas and curled up beside his dead father, inside a Skegness home on the east coast of England.

It is understood Kenneth Battersby, 60, died of a heart attack and his two-year-old son Bronson Battersby, who was in the care of Children's Services, starved to death some time in the two weeks after the pair were last seen on Boxing Day.

The child's devastated mother, Sarah Piesse, 43, has blamed social workers who failed to raise the alarm immediately after receiving no response when they knocked on Battersby's door during a routine January 2 check in, The Sun[1] reports.

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The social worker returned two days later and notified the police when, again, no one answered the door.

However, it would be another five days before authorities made it back to the building on January 7.

By then, Bronson was dead. Preliminary tests later found the toddler died of dehydration and starvation.

Piesse told The Sun through tears she was unable to hold or cuddle her son when she went to identify him because his body was "too fragile".

"I could only touch him. He had been left there too long," she said.

She claims authorities estimated Battersby suffered a heart attack no earlier than December 29.

"It means if the social worker had pushed to get in when she got no reply on January 2, then Bronson would still have been alive," Piesse said.

"If social services had done their job, Bronson would still be alive.

But they didn't do anything.

"I can't believe it.

They can't let them get away with this.

We have to be able to rely on social workers to keep our children safe."

A surviving pet dog, a boxer called Skylar, was also found emaciated in the residence, according to The Sun.

7NEWS.com.au has contacted Lincolnshire Children's Services for comment.

References

1. ^ The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)
2. ^ 7plus >> (7plus.com.au)
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