Dylan Scanlon: death of five-year-old boy in Oldham to be reviewed

The death of a five-year-old boy whose family had had previous contact with authorities is to be reviewed by child safeguarding experts.

Dylan Scanlon, a “happy, funny and cheeky little boy”, was pronounced dead by emergency services who responded to an incident at his home in Oldham on New Year’s Eve.

Greater Manchester police (GMP) said its investigation into how Dylan died was still ongoing.

Dylan’s death will now be the focus of a child safeguarding review, expected to be launched in the coming days, following previous contact between his family and the authorities.

GMP said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct because its officers had been in contact with the family before the incident.

Officers were called by the ambulance service to the property in the Limeside area of Oldham, at 6.20pm on 31 December. Dylan was pronounced dead at the scene and a woman in her 30s was detained under the Mental Health Act.

A spokesperson for Oldham council said: “A review of Dylan’s case is currently under way. We expect this to progress to a full child safeguarding practice review, the findings of which will be published in due course.

“That child safeguarding practice review will be carried out by an independent author, with the full cooperation of Oldham council and other partners.

“It will examine the circumstances around Dylan’s death and look into how organisations, including the council, were involved with Dylan during his life.”

In a statement released by GMP, Dylan’s father said: “Dylan was my best mate.

“He was a happy, funny and cheeky little boy, who was full of excitement – especially about doing new things.

“Dylan loved going to school, playing with his friends and dogs and going for drives with me to parks and lakes. He loved being at the lake but not walking around it – he was there for the ice-cream, a ride on Daddy’s shoulders and a McDonald’s on the way home.

“His favourite times of year were Christmas and his birthday – he knew he’d be spoiled.”

He added: “I’ve been looking through memories on my phone – videos of him crawling and learning how to walk. I will always remember his face when I got home from work – he was always happy to see me and I loved spending any time with him that I could.

“Dylan will be sadly missed by all family and friends, especially his brother, who he loved and absolutely adored. I loved watching them playing with each other, looking after each other and just doing what brothers do.”