A nine-year-old left blind and brain damaged from his father’s violent abuse as a baby has died in hospital, prompting a new police investigation.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
Bradley Nelson was left severely disabled and unable to walk, talk or feed himself after being attacked by his father Darren Spreadbury at their home in Whitby, North Yorkshire, in April 2016 – when he was just seven months old.
He suffered such violent abuse that he went blind, and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
In 2018, Spreadbury was jailed for four years after scans revealed Bradley’s brain injuries had been caused by shaken baby syndrome, the name given to serious brain injuries resulting from forceful shaking of an infant or toddler.
NINE YEARS LATER
Nine years later, police have opened a new investigation after Bradley sadly passed away at Scarborough General Hospital on October 22.
Bradley’s mother Sharon Boocock, a 44-year-old bartender who was at his bedside when he died, said he was ‘always smiling and happy’ despite his medical woes.
A fundraiser launched on GoFundMe by Sharon’s friends to help cover Bradley’s funeral costs has already raised more than £2,700 – where donors have described him as the ‘bravest little boy’.
‘I got to sit with him for 10 minutes and then he had another massive cardiac arrest and they just couldn’t get him back,’ Sharon, who lives with her three other children, told PA Real Life.
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THE DAY IT HAPPENED
The mother-of-four remembers waking up on April 6 2016 to her ex-partner Darren telling her Bradley had stopped breathing.
She rushed downstairs and started performing CPR before an ambulance arrived and Bradley was taken to A&E at Scarborough General Hospital.
The police were called after a CT scan revealed Bradley had suffered a brain injury doctors feared was caused by physical abuse.
COURT RULING
A few weeks later, Bradley’s father, Darren was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and handed a 10-year restraining order at York Crown Court on May 25 2018.
To this day, Sharon does not know what happened, but medical results show Bradley had 300ml of blood between his brain and skull and was shaken so hard that his optic nerve snapped – leaving him blind.
After the attack, Bradley, who was born ‘fit and well’, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
