Baby Preston Davey’s death at hands of adoptive father slammed as ‘failure of the state’

England’s Children’s Commissioner has described the “sad” death of baby Preston Davey at the hands of his stepfather as a “failure of the state and the security system”.

Dame Rachel de Souza said a safeguarding review should find out “whether we could have prevented Preston’s murder” and the Government pledged to ensure “anyone responsible for negligence faces the consequences”.

The local child protection practice review (LCSPR), launched by Oldham Council after the child’s death, will look at whether there were missed opportunities to identify problems with the child’s care while he was alive.

Such reviews take place following the death or serious injury of a child where abuse or neglect is known or suspected to be a factor, and take into account the work of all relevant agencies, including the police, health, social care and education.

The government said the national child protection practice review panel, which considers the most serious cases of child abuse and neglect to determine what can be learned, will work with the local review into Preston’s death “to get to the bottom of this horrific case”.

The trial of Jamie Varley, who was found guilty of murdering and sexually abusing his 13-month-old adopted baby, heard Preston was taken to hospital three times, seen by a “group of professionals” and police were even called in the weeks before his death.

Former teacher Varley was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, while his partner, former public student and sales manager John McGowan-Fazakerley, was jailed for 25 years for allowing Preston’s death.

Both sexually assaulted and physically abused Preston after adopting him when he was nine months old, and were convicted by a jury after an eight-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

Dame Rachel described the case as “truly distressing” involving “unimaginable cruelty”.

He said: “I am clear that this was a failure of the state and the safeguarding system. “The state decided Preston could not be kept safe by his birth family, took on the responsibility of providing him with a safer future and this child was murdered.

“I have a responsibility to challenge the system and I will not stop until we find out what happened.

“We know that Preston went to A&E many times throughout his short life, the police were called and a social worker visited. The judge said he was reassured by the professional killer’s profession and demeanor. I need to know if we can prevent Preston’s murder.”

Referencing previous child deaths involving safeguarding failures, she added: “We have been here too many times. Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Star Hobson and Sara Sharif are names we should never forget.”

“I come to the same point: We need professional curiosity across the child protection system. We need a system that encourages working together, sharing information, accountability and, most importantly, learning lessons.”

A safeguarding review in November 2025 found that murdered 10-year-old Sara had been “failed by the safeguarding system” throughout her short life and that her father’s domestic abuse had been ignored and underestimated.

The report on numerous missed opportunities concluded that even protection professionals were “treated and manipulated” by his murderous father, Urfan Sharif, despite the “vast amount of information” available to various authorities.

Sara, who was found dead in a bunk bed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023, was subjected to what was described as “appalling abuse” by Sharif and his stepmother Beinash Batool.

A review into efforts to protect six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in May 2024 said it was difficult to understand why police did not intervene after he was sent a photo with bruising that suggested he had been “subject to a brutal attack”.

The report identified three critical missed opportunities for police and social care in nine days and said images of the child’s injuries sent to authorities “could and should have changed the course of this case”.

Arthur was killed by his stepmother Emma Tustin at their home in Cranmore Road, Solihull, in June 2020 after being poisoned, starved and beaten.

Star was murdered by his mother’s girlfriend at his home in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in September 2020. Star’s mother, Frankie Smith, 20, was found guilty of causing or allowing the teenager’s death.

An investigation into the child’s death found that a family member’s explanation that his concern might have been malicious and stemmed from his mother’s dislike of homosexual relationships was “too easily accepted”.

It also said Bradford children’s social care service was “in disarray” in 2020, with high social worker turnover and high turnover affecting quality and contributing to evaluations that were “very superficial” and did not address repeated concerns from family members.

The government described Preston’s abuse and death as “sickening” and acknowledged that “the public rightly demands answers about what went wrong.”

The report said it “introduced the most far-reaching child protection reforms in a generation, including the Child Welfare and Schools Act, a new law that requires social workers, health professionals and the police to work better together to protect vulnerable children at risk of abuse.”

In December he announced he would set up a new Child Protection Agency (CPA) in England to “monitor the national picture”.

Speaking at the time, children’s minister Josh MacAlister said the authority would “absorb and build on the impressive work” of the existing national review panel.

The establishment of a CPA was one of 20 recommendations put forward by Professor Alexis Jay in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in its final report in 2022.

Mr MacAlister said the Government wanted to “create a more specialist, committed and focused child protection system” following problems that he said had “allowed abuse and exploitation to go unchecked”.

An exact date has not yet been given for when the CPA will be established, but Dame Rachel said it should be “introduced without delay”.

An Oldham Council spokesman said baby Preston’s situation was “particularly heartbreaking and disturbing” and confirmed local independent CSPR would “review the handling of Preston’s safety”.