Mum of boy who staved to death: ‘He was 2 inches too small to open fridge’

A mother has broken down as she remembers her two-year-old son who was found dead clutching the legs of his heart attack victim father.

Bronson Battersby was found dead at his Lincolnshire home last week.

Starved boy Bronson Battersby was just two inches too small to reach a fridge full of leftovers that would have saved him, his devastated mum has said.

The two-year-old also could not reach his snacks because they had just been moved from a low cupboard to stop him helping himself to treats, reports The Sun.

Bronson was found dead, curled up clutching the legs of his heart attack victim dad Kenneth, 14 days after he was last seen alive.

Lincolnshire Police yesterday referred itself to the forces watchdog over his death.

The council has also launched a “rapid review” to find why Bronson was not found for a week after the alarm was raised by his social worker in Skegness, UK.

Bronson’s father died from a heart attack, leaving him unattended for up to two weeks.

Mum Sarah Piesse, 43, yesterday said she was now haunted by the vision of her “gorgeous boy” searching desperately in the dark for food and water — but being too tiny to reach the tap or fridge door.

Smiling as she remembered her son, who was born weighing just over 1.8kg, she said: “A typical, cheeky, little two-year-old. He was always trying to get his favourite pink wafers.

“And then when we said no more, he’d smile and shout, ‘Yeah! More, more, more!’

“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.

“He was about two inches off being able to reach the fridge to open it.

“His last moments were spent alone and he must have been so thirsty and hungry.

“He will have been crying. He will have been so confused.

“And Kenny was there on the floor. I can only pray he thought his dad was asleep.”

Sarah Piesse with her son Bronson.

Sarah still has her son’s Christmas present — a toy steering wheel — at home.

She said: “I know the two of them had a big Christmas dinner together.

“They had all the trimmings and chicken instead of turkey, because Bronson liked chicken.

“All the food would have still been in the fridge. If only Bronson was a little bit taller, then he would have survived.

“The fridge would have been packed with Christmas leftovers.”

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.

Bronson lived with his father, Kenny.

“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.

The little lad was last seen alive on Boxing Day. Preliminary tests found Bronson died of dehydration and starvation.

Talking about the moment she heard Kenneth, 60, known as Kenny, had died, Sarah said: “My friend who lives on Kenny’s road told me.

“My first question was, ‘Where the hell is my boy then? Who has my boy?’ I got down there as fast as I could. I was there in 10 minutes flat. I ran down the road screaming Bronson’s name.

“I screamed for him, knowing he’d need me. I was scared about what he might have seen with his dad passing away. But the police put me in the back of an ambulance at the scene.

“They told me a two-year-old boy was found at the scene and they were doing a post mortem. My whole world fell apart. I was screaming, ‘How? How?’

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

Sarah and Kenny — who also share a daughter, three, and son, seven — split in 2019 but have had an on-off relationship.

The couple came to the mutual decision that Bronson would live with Kenny when Sarah moved into a new flat six months ago.

Her home was unsafe for the boy because of a high staircase without a banister.

She last saw Bronson in November and was due to see him this month to give him his Christmas present — which remains still wrapped up at home.

Sarah wept as she recalled the last time she saw her son. She had made him spaghetti bolognese and he had played with his older brother and sister.

An argument with Kenny had meant weeks had gone by without her seeing the boy.

But the mum trusted Kenny with Bronson and knew social services would also be there to help.

She added: “Kenny and Bronson always had a bond, so it made sense when I got the new flat for Bronson to stay with 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.”

Kenny’s emaciated pet boxer dog Skylar survived at the end-of- terrace home, where the bodies were found on Tuesday last week.

Shaking with emotion, Sarah recalled the moment she was finally allowed to see Bronson’s fragile body in the hospital morgue on Monday.

She said: “I’ve been to see him, but I wasn’t allowed to hold him.

“I cuddled him, kissed him, told him I loved him.

“He was too fragile for me to hold because it had been so long. All I wanted to do was hold him.

“My boy — I just want to see his smile all the time.”

Lincolnshire County Council has said the social worker involved in Bronson’s case has not been suspended, but it is understood they have voluntarily taken time off.

Asked about what she would like to see happen to make sure a tragedy like her son’s death is never repeated, Sarah said: “No other mother should have to go through what I have been through.

“I want to know why did they not gain access on the first visit? That would have saved him.”

This story originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.