My son was run over & killed by his dad…I left his bowl of cereal on side for months – I didn’t want to move anything
A MUM revealed she couldn't bear to touch her three-year-old's half-eaten bowl of cereal for months after the toddler was killed by his dad.
Albie Speakman died when he was struck by a telehandler operated by his father Neil Speakman in Bury, Greater Manchester, on July 16, 2022.
A jury found the 39-year-old not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Tuesday.
The farmer is set to be sentenced at a later date after admitting a health and safety offence.
Albie's grief-stricken mum, Leah Bridge, has now spoken out about discovering her son had been killed.
The 31-year-old told the Manchester Evening News: "I didn't move or touch anything.
Read More
"I didn't move or touch his cornflake bowl for months. I didn't touch one single thing."
Leah hasn't thrown away any of Albie's belongings, which are vacuum-packed in the loft, since the nightmare.
She still heartbreakingly carries one of her little boy's unwashed jumpers around with her everywhere she goes.
Reliving July 16, 2022, Leah told how she had dropped Albie off at his dad's, who looked after him on alternate weekends, at around 9am.
In a gut-wrenching confession the mum said: "I think 'what might he have seen?
"What might he have said? Was he scared?' I don't know because I wasn't there."
Leah's last words to her three-year-old were in the car, when the pair said "bye" to each other.
By early afternoon she remembers the sheer horror of hearing Speakman on the phone in tears saying "it's Albie, it's Albie".
"I just knew there was something drastically wrong," recounted the mum.
"He said 'you need to come to the hospital'. The first thing I said was 'is he alive?'.
"He said 'no, he's dead... he's dead'."
Even as she raced to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Leah tried to convince herself that her ex-partner was playing a "sick joke".
Before tragedy struck, Albie's dad had spent the morning out with him and returned to the farm just before midday.
The 39-year-old began moving a telehandler to dump bags of woodchips.
Three-year-old Albie was playing with their dogs in the garden.
Speakman failed to see his toddler go behind the farming machinery as he reversed.
Albie was rushed to hospital but pronounced dead a short while later.
Speakman was charged with gross negligence manslaughter, which he denied, and was later cleared of at trial.
But, the dad admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, having "[failed] to ensure the health and safety of Albie, so far as is reasonably practical".
He told the court "I messed up, I made a mistake" and called the horror a "tragic accident".
Leah slammed she was "so disappointed" in the verdict" and said her little boy was "let down".
The mum, who has since welcomed 19-month-old Ebon, spoke of how she now "just keeps existing" for her second born.
But she confessed it was hard to even look at her baby "for ages" because it sparked painful memories of Albie.
The nursery worker has given him the middle name Albie, to honour her late son.
'I'M COMPLETELY BROKEN...MY WORLD HAS BEEN DESTROYED'
In a statement Leah wrote to be read in court, she said paid tribute to Albie and reflected on the life-changing loss.
"My world has been shattered into a million irreparable pieces, and no one can fix it or understand what I am going through," she said.
"There are absolutely no words to describe how I'm feeling - pain, sadness, heartbreak, they don't even come close. I'm completely broken, my world has been destroyed, and time has stood still for me, yet everything around me seems to keep moving.
"It's been two-and-a-half years since Albie was taken from us, and believe me when I say, it does not get any easier. It's like no one can see how broken I am and how broken my life is, forever.
"There will always be darkness within my life. Behind every smile, or laugh and I feel guilty that I am still alive when Albie isn't. I am not religious, and I do not believe in God but I have prayed more times that I can count – prayed that I could swap places with Albie.
"Albie is my entire life, he saved me when he came into this world, and I am devastated that I could not do the same for him. Everything I did was for Albie, I dedicated my life to him.
"I am so scared that I will start to forget his voice or the things he said. I have already forgotten his smell and how it felt to have his little hands on my face.
"It's almost impossible to comprehend that I am never going to experience the world in the same way I did, now that Albie is not here. When I think ahead to my future – I just don't see a time where I will be truly happy again, and that is a very scary thought.
"It is like I am just going through the motions waiting until I die. I am heartbroken that Albie's baby brother will never get to meet him or play with him. Albie would have made the best big brother in the world. And it will be my promise to Albie, to keep his memory alive for as long as I remain on this earth.
"Each day the pain and despair continue, as it sinks in more and more that Albie is never coming back. Knowing I'll never watch Albie play with his toys again or tuck him in his bed at night.
"Albie, you are my everything boy and I am your everything girl. The only thing that keeps me going is thinking that every new day is one day closer to me seeing you again.
"I love you endlessly, my sunshine boy."
Leah has been bombarded with fresh challenges while navigating parenthood after losing a child.
"Albie is Ebon's big brother, but soon Ebon will be three, and then Ebon will be four, and Albie will still be three. It doesn't make sense," she said.
The mum is also riddled with anxiety over her 19-month-old son's safety, who she described as "the sole reason why I keep going".
The 31-year-old remains unsure how she will tell Ebon about Albie when he's older, but said the tot often comes with her to visit his grave.
Determined Leah has been coping with her grief while juggling not only being a mother, but going back to work six-days-a-week to support her family.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
She was employed at Albie's nursery, and has since bravely returned - but still can't face going into Albie's set toddler room.
Staff have added a bench in their garden, Albie's Buddy Bench, and hung a star on the wall in his memory.