Toddler survives fortnight by body

An emaciated toddler who was found keeping vigil over the body of his dead mother survived alone at their home for two weeks on crisps and fruit juice.

Michael McGarrity, 3, was discovered in a "painfully thin" condition next to his mother's body at their fifth-floor flat in Edinburgh. Yesterday he was making a good recovery in hospital.

He was too small to open the front door but was able to push the mail back through the post box in what may have been an attempt to raise the alarm.

When no one came, Michael played quietly with his Thomas the Tank Engine and, unable to reach the cupboards full of food, fed himself on crisps and fruit juice.

It was not until his nursery finally alerted his grandmother that he had not attended for days that she called the police.

Officers broke down the door of their flat in Leith, Edinburgh, on Saturday to find the remains of 33-year-old Anne-Marie McGarrity in the living room alongside her emaciated and dehydrated child.

As questions were being asked why it took so long to discover the death and stranded child, Michael was watching Bob the Builder and playing with his Incredibles toys at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

His uncle, Keiran McGarrity, said: "Michael is improving every day and we are glad he is getting better. We are hopeful he can leave hospital soon. He is beginning to tell us a bit about what happened, but it is early days and it will be a long time before we know the whole story.

"This has been a devastating time for the whole family."

Last night it was unclear how Ms McGarrity, by all accounts a devoted single mother and pleasant neighbour, had died. The police would only say there was no indication of suspicious circumstances.

Michael's grandmother, Eleanor McGarrity, said: "Michael was like a skeleton, very weak and thin. He is still lethargic and his speech is affected because of the dehydration. But we are confident he will make a full recovery. He is such a brave wee soul."

Neighbour Moira Chisholm, 56, said Michael must have been quiet for her not to hear him.

"I rapped her door a couple of times, as did other people. I don't know why Michael didn't stand at the back of the door and yell. We would have broken the door in. The mail was coming back out through the door and in retrospect I think it might have been Michael trying to attract attention.

"I called the postman, 'Can you make sure you put the mail right through' in case she was away. And he did put it through, but later it was back out again."

The Edinburgh City Council said it would review its absence procedures at nurseries after it was found that the toddler's lack of attendance was not reported for two weeks.

A spokesman said: "It is important to establish the reasons why a child is not attending".

The Labour MP for the area, Mark Lazarowicz, headed calls for an investigation.

"We have to find out whether there could have been some way of preventing an awful tragedy.

"But it's wrong to jump to any conclusions - the whole point of an inquiry is to find out what happened and what lessons can be drawn."

- INDEPENDENT