Two year old starves to death

Mum is selling her story to the Sun, no doubt she’ll be able to add to her tattoo Collection showcased also in The Sun. They all look unkempt and dirty - mum, dad and the poor baby.

What tattoo collection ?

the mother said 'who can we rely on to keep our children safe if not social workers'

duh...mothers maybe !!

The mother who last saw her son in November according to The Sun, to whom she has sold her story.
www.thesun.co.uk/news/25405724/bronson-battersbys-mum-remembers-last-time-saw-boy/

Oh my goodness, ten children?
Why is it that those who are least able ( or willing) to look after children are invariably the ones who have the most?

Sterilisation has been mentioned for women like that, to prevent large numbers of helpless little ones being brought up in these chaotic households.

However, once we go down the route of State intervention like that, we are on a very slippery slope.

I don’t know what the answer is apart from cutting their benefits, but then the children suffer.

From photographs and details, it appears to me that both parents were vulnerable adults and he should never have been left with either of them unsupervised. It is reported that the father couldn't cope and it has not been said why the mother didn't have custody so perhaps she couldn't either. So sad that this little boy didn't have a chance. Did read that someone said he was crying out for love and attention. So many of these awful cases of neglect. Social workers and the police should have acted sooner. A sixty year old man with health problems should not have been left with a two year old.

Yet again overstretched Police and Social workers are being blamed for a tragedy. The child's so called Mother needs to be looked at, why on earth could anyone leave a small, vulnerable child with a sick adult, no contact, not even calling to wish them a Happy Xmas? There is more to this than the knee jerk pile on by the tabloids.

Germanshepherdsmum

The mother who last saw her son in November according to The Sun, to whom she has sold her story.
www.thesun.co.uk/news/25405724/bronson-battersbys-mum-remembers-last-time-saw-boy/

The Sun has reached another low.

The gutter press.

So agree GSM

If the mother had not seen her child since November, then it sounds as if it was just for a brief visit, and the father only had the child with him over Christmas and New Year, who was the main carer? Where did little Bronson normally live?

Poor little scrap. So many willing, caring people who would love to adopt but have been denied the chance because of changes in the law.

GSM I am not a social worker, but it seemed to me she done everything she could, as her superior said on a television interview, as a social worker she has no right to gain entry on the property. She also informed the police. Unfortunately these people are very overworked, it is so easy to blame them.
I will wait to see what becomes of the enquiriry and not scapegoat them.
Also posters are having a go at the Mother forblaming the social worker, what are posters on this thread doing. I think over worked social workers are a easy target.

I read an interview with one of her older children, a lad of I think 19, who said father and toddler had been invited to stay with them (I don’t know to whom he was referring) over Christmas/New Year but the father declined because he had ‘a bad foot’ and had nobody to look after the dog. What was the matter with the foot I have no idea, but if it was affecting his mobility that’s yet another reason for him not to be in sole charge of a two year old. I really can’t come to terms with a situation in which a mother has a row with her ex and allegedly because of that leaves her two year old with the ex in November, saying now that she intended to give him his Christmas present in January. I wonder what sort of Christmas the poor little mite had. With his health problems and, dare I say it, appearance and former homelessness, the father may well have been living hand to mouth on benefits - mother too. What sort of life did that little one have? We will obviously learn more but I think most of us can hazard a guess.

DH just told me that the little boy was just two inches too short to reach the fridge handle .... 😥

You'd think the mother would have been in contact most days to see how her youngest babe was over Christmas and New Year?

The Children Act focusses on the welfare of the child. The majority of children do better brought up within their family of origin, with parents ideally, or within their extended family if that isn’t possible.
The legislation was based on best research evidence and care proceedings thorough and has been updated and extended over time.
There are assumptions and criticisms being made here based on very little clear evidence. I understand the emotional reaction, it’s almost impossible to contemplate what this tiny infant suffered after his daddy’s death. The mother is heavily criticised here and I understand why, though my impression is of a very vulnerable individual who accepted she couldnt care for this latest baby.
This father seems to have been ‘good enough’, in the legal definition.
There will be a complicated history here. We know so little and it’s easy to judge, criticise everyone, parents, relatives, police, social workers. I feel desperately sad that as a country, we could do so much more to support the Brondon’s if this world. We had decent family centres and trained family support workers, austerity demolished support services.

Are The Sun journalists paying this mother to parade her complaints ( and unwittingly expose her to potential judgement regarding her part in this sad matter) ? If so, shame on them.

The Sun has no shame. It’s a disgusting rag.
The people of Liverpool are setting an example in refusing to buy it since Hillsborough

The mother was very quick to judge others though chocolatelovinggran

Shame on the mother for selling her story.

Iam64

The social worker visited by appointment, got no reply and contacted the police. I don’t understand why no police action was taken.
The social worker visited again, no reply, child not seen so police informed. Again, no action.
The social worker obtained a key from the landlord, let herself in and found the bodies.
Please don’t just blame this social worker. I don’t understand why the police didn’t gain access to the property. In my experience, they’d have used their powers to gain entry to ensure a vulnerable child was seen.
The child’s mother is complaining to the Sun that social services let her child die. No comment on thst

I agree. How is this the social workers fault

The SW didn’t chase up the police after the lack of feedback following not one, but two reports to them. It’s not good enough to say that you ticked the ‘alert the police’ box, ignore the lack of police response and not return for several days.

I imagine over Christmas it was a duty social worker.

GSM you have made some sensible, heartfelt posts on this thread but social workers are thin on the ground and it has got worse since covid. That is just my own experience

I wonder what happened with the Police referral? My experience was that the police response to any suggestion concern about a child was immediate. They’re a blue light organisation whereas sw teams would often want to meet, share info and formulate a plan.

We don’t know why no action was taken, at least that’s the info the press are printing.

JaneJudge - social workers, police, all thin on the ground. Shrinking resources alongside increasing demands. I expect those involved won’t be sleeping tonight .

Too much speculation, we simply do not know. Why this need to judge, condemn and draw conclusions without knowing the facts? It won’t bring little Bronson back and it certainly won’t do anything to attract people into social work.