Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Sarah Louise Piesse
Topics: UK News
Jess Hardiman
Two-year-old Bronson Battersby's cause of death has been determined as dehydration.
The young boy's lifeless body was found alongside that of his 60-year-old dad Kenneth in Skegness, Lincolnshire, on 9 January.
A social worker had visited the rental home on 2 January - a regular occurrence due to the pair both being considered vulnerable.
After Kenneth failed to answer the door, she became concerned and raised the issue with police.
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Two days later, the children's worker was met with the same muted response upon knocking on Kenneth's door, prompting her to call the police once again.
According to reports, it was only after five days that the woman was able to receive a key from the landlord and check on the father and son herself.
It was then that she discovered their visibly dead bodies, as well as their pet Boxer, Skylar, who had survived but was very weak and thin.
Bronson's mother later said little Bronson would have been 'two inches too small to reach the fridge'.
A report released later ruled that Kenneth had died from a heart attack no earlier than 29 December.
The loving father had previously suffered from a heart condition which had triggered jaundice.
The post-mortem also recorded that toddler Bronson had died of dehydration and starvation, and a friend of the family later told press that he was found 'curled up at Kenneth's legs'.
An inquest into his death opened today at Lincolnshire Coroner’s Court, which heard how Bronson lived with Kenneth after his parents separated in summer 2022, while his two siblings lived with his mother.
Detective Inspector Claire Rimmer of Lincolnshire Police said police received a call from a 'concerned' neighbour who hadn't seen Kenneth for some time, also reporting a smell coming from his flat.
The court was told Bronson's cause of death has now been confirmed as dehydration.
Coroner's officer Tracy Cox said his post-mortem examination had taken place at Leicestershire Royal Infirmary on 11 January.
Senior coroner Paul Smith adjourned the inquest to a provisional date of 10 December 2024, saying a 'thorough and sensitive investigation' into the two deaths would continue.
The Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership has also confirmed it is undertaking an in-depth review into the case, which is expected to take six months after commencing in February.
Lincolnshire Police previously said the deaths are not being treated as suspicious, but the force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), with the watchdog confirming it will investigate.