Child ‘worked to death’ in Blue Peter garden

TV News: An inquest into the tragic death of 6 year old Jimmy Toolis has found that he died of heart failure after doing 692 hours of unpaid heavy manual work in the Blue Peter garden – all on the promise of a coveted Blue Peter badge, which he never received.

The Coroner’s report concluded that ‘Blue Peter worked him to death,’ but conceded that, ‘malnutrition and lack of sleep were also contributing factors.’

It’s not the first time the Blue Peter badge scheme has been embroiled in controversy. In 1978, Susan Hairlop famously donated one of her kidneys live on air to John Noakes’ dog. Unfortunately the organ was rejected.

“They said he’d die without a kidney but when they plopped it into his bowl he turned his nose up at it,” Susan sobbed, “I never got no badge. But I did get an appeal for a dialysis machine.”

Jenny Parker then raised a staggering £124.12½p for Susan’s dialysis machine appeal by collecting milk bottle tops and pimping out her older brother on the streets of Coventry. “I didn’t get a badge,” Jenny confirmed, “I went to prison.”

Keen to draw a line under the most recent scandal, lawyers for Blue Peter assured bereaved parents, Mr and Mrs Toolis, “Jimmy will be awarded a posthumous badge allowing him free entry to many interesting heritage and cultural venues,” but refused to comment on Susan or Jenny’s badges, stating that, “decisions have to be made on a case-by-case basis.”