'Was he scared? I don't know because I wasn't there': Albie's mum speaks for the first time

Leah Bridge lost her son Albie in the most horrific of circumstances. The three-year-old died under the wheels of a farm vehicle driven by his dad Neil.

His mum spoke to the Manchester Evening News and described her unremitting pain at what happened - and how she has since given birth to a second son.

"It just feels like it happened yesterday," the 31-year-old said. "It feels like I've stood still in time and I don't go anywhere. I don't move forward in my mind. I haven't moved on anywhere from it. 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 revealed she has had another son, Ebon, but her joy was etched with heartache as she struggled to look at him at first because she feared he would look like Albie. "I didn't look at him for ages," she added. "I didn't know what he was going to look like... if he was going to look like Albie.

"When he was born, I held him briefly. My partner held him. When we went to hospital, my mum held him, but I was scared. I don't know why."

Ebon's middle name is Albie, in memory of his sibling. It's one of many constant reminders Leah has of her 'sunshine boy'. To this day, she carries one of his jumpers with her wherever she goes. It was taken from the wash basket after he died.

Leah relives the day she lost him over and over. She couldn't bring herself to tidy up the bowl of cornflakes he had eaten the morning of his death. It stayed where it was for months.

Albie was killed in July 2022 when he was hit by a defective telehandler driven by his dad Neil Speakman - Leah's ex-partner - at his farm in Bury. The toddler would stay at the 39-year-old's on alternate weekends.

Leah had met Speakman at the entrance to the farm