The pair was last seen on December 26. (Representative pic)
A 2-year-old boy in the United Kingdom was found starved to death next to the body of his father, who had suffered a fatal heart attack two weeks earlier. Bronson Battersby was found dead curled up next to his 60-year-old father, Kenneth, at their home in Lincolnshire on January 9, the BBC reported. The pair was last seen on December 26 - not long before Mr Kenneth suffered a fatal heart attack, ultimately leaving his 2-year-old alone with no one to care for him.
The Lincolnshire County Council has launched a review into the death of the toddler, who has been described as the "light of his dad's eye". According to the BBC, a social worker visited their home on January 2, after contacting the father on December 27. However, she received no reply and, after making inquiries at other addresses where the child might be, contacted the police. The social worker returned to the house unannounced two days later and contacted the cops again as there was still no response. The bodies of the father and the son were not found until the social worker got into the home using a key from the landlord days later.
Speaking to the outlet, Lincolnshire County Council's executive director of children's services, Heather Sandy, described the deaths as "devastating". "It is a tragedy that Kenneth died of a heart attack. He was at home on his own with Bronson and that meant that there was nobody left to give Bronson care, and sadly as a result of that, Bronson has also passed away," she said.
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According to The Guardian, the boy's mother Sarah Piesse said she last saw her son before Christmas after a row with Mr Kenneth. The 60-year-old is thought to have died of a heart attack no earlier than 29 December. The 2-year-old, on the other hand, is believed to have died of dehydration and starvation, according to a postmortem report seen by the mother.
Lincolnshire Police has said it was not treating the deaths as suspicious but had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), adding it was standard procedure in such cases. Lincolnshire County Council has also launched a rapid review into the incident. The rapid review will involve the council, police force, and any relevant health organisations.