Tragic Bronson Battersby’s dad ‘tried his best for little boy, 2, until his last breath’, grieving sister says
His heartbroken mum said Bronson was just two inches too small to reach a fridge full of leftovers
THE half sister of tragic Bronson Battersby says the boy’s dad tried his best “until his last breath”.
The two-year-old starved to death next to dad Kenneth’s body at a property in Lincolnshire before they were found on January 9.
Bronson‘s adult sister Melanie, 37, last saw him during a family holiday to Butlin’s and said Kenneth “absolutely doted” on the toddler.
Speaking to , she added: “He tried his best for that little boy until his last breath.
“I think he loved doing what he was doing for him.”
The pair were last seen alive on Boxing Day at the property in Skegness and Kenneth is understood to have suffered a heart attack shortly afterwards.
This left Bronson to fend for himself in the dark with no food or water.
He was found curled up next to his 60-year-old dad and is believed to have survived for two or three days without him.
Preliminary tests found Bronson died of dehydration and starvation.
His heartbroken mother Sarah Piesse revealed Bronson was just two inches too small to reach a fridge full of leftovers that could have saved him.
The 43-year-old told The Sun: “Kenny moved all the snacks higher up so he couldn’t get to them without asking.
“Now all I can think of in my head is him, starving, reaching up and trying to get them. I can’t bear it.”
Bronson had been classified as vulnerable by social services, which meant he received weekly visits.
The council say a social worker attended the property for a scheduled visit on January 2 and after getting no response, spoke to her manager and the police.
She returned on January 4 and after no reply on January 9, Kenneth’s landlady gained entry and discovered the pair.
Melanie, who is Kenneth’s daughter from another mother, was told the pair looked “peaceful” when they were found.
She revealed Kenneth had suffered another heart attack a few months before his death and was not in good health.
She said nobody was to blame for the deaths and that her dad’s heart attack was “very sudden”.
She added: “There was nothing that he could have really done.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed on Thursday it had launched an investigation into the two deaths.
