Police inquiry after boy shaken as baby dies

A boy left blind and brain-damaged after being attacked as a baby by his father has died in hospital, prompting a fresh police investigation.

Bradley Nelson, nine, was left severely disabled and unable to walk after being assaulted by Darren Spreadbury in April 2016, when he was seven months old.

Despite being born “fit and well” Bradley was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Nearly nine years later, Bradley, from Whitby, died at Scarborough General Hospital in last month after going into cardiac arrest.

In May 2018, Spreadbury was sentenced to four years in prison, after scans found Bradley’s brain injuries had been caused by shaken baby syndrome.

“Bradley was blind because he shook him that hard, he snapped his optic nerve and he had a can of Coke’s worth of blood between his brain and his skull,” Bradley’s mum, Sharon Boocock, said.

Doctors later determined he had suffered a brain injury that was “unexplained and non-accidental”, leading to the arrest of Spreadbury.

He pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was handed a 10-year restraining order, as well as being sent to prison.

In the years following the attack, Bradley needed “24-hour care” and was unable to walk, talk or feed himself, according to his mum.

He underwent several operations and suffered complications and infections.

Ms Boocock said her life at the time was devoted to staying in to look after Bradley.

“I couldn’t go anywhere after 17:00 because Bradley would come home from school and that was me housebound,” she said.

She explained how she had juggled her job as a bartender to earn “whatever money she could” and said she was “learning to live again”.

Last month, Bradley was sent home from school after complaining about feeling sleepy.

He was taken in to hospital and Ms Boocock and her partner, Jonny Nelson, were told he had suffered a seizure after falling unconscious.

Bradley died on 22 October after going into cardiac arrest.

Sharon said, despite everything, Bradley had been “always smiling and happy”.

Last week, police informed her they were investigating the cause of his death.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of the death of a nine-year-old boy from the Whitby area, who sadly passed away in hospital on October 22.

“The child had complex medical needs and an investigation into the cause of his death is currently under way, reflecting due process in such circumstances.”

A fundraiser has been launched on GoFundMe by Sharon’s friends to help cover Bradley’s funeral costs.

It has raised almost £4,000 – where donors have described him as the “bravest little boy”.

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