‘He had this really solemn, sad look'

Neighbours say they feared something was wrong before Dylan Scanlon was killed by his own mother, writes Amy Walker

- Amy Walker

A MAN who once laughed and joked with an adorable five-year-old living on his street wipes away a tear. He’s recalling the last time he saw him.

“He was a lovely little boy. Something had changed.”

Once full of happiness and energy, Dylan spent his final weeks miserable, caught in the middle of a bitter parental rift.

Neighbours knew something was wrong. Concerns had been reported to the authorities. Social services had been called.

Months later, Dylan’s life ended in tragic circumstances.

This week – as his mother Claire Scanlon, 38, was convicted of murdering her son by poisoning him with anti-depressants and jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years – neighbours revealed their fears for that once-cheerful young boy in the months leading up to his death.

“I used to tease him whenever I saw him,” an elderly neighbour told the Manchester Evening News. “I saw him almost every day.

“I would say ‘hi, Dylan’ and stick my tongue out at him.

“He would do the same and stick his tongue out at me.

“The last time I saw him – it must have been a few days before – I said ‘hi, Dylan’ and stuck my tongue out at him, but he didn’t do it back. It makes me well up just thinking about it.”

The spark had gone from Dylan’s eye.

His dad had left and his mum was behaving erratically.

Families on Elm Road, on Oldham’s Limeside estate, had become increasingly concerned.

On New Year’s Eve, 2021, when his mother ran outside screaming that her son wasn’t breathing, it quickly became clear that something terrible had happened – and that neighbours’ fears may have proven wellfounded.