England’s Children’s Commissioner has branded the “ harrowing” death of baby Preston Davey at the hands of his adoptive father “a failure of the state and the safeguarding system”.
Dame Rachel de Souza said a safeguarding review must find out “whether we could have prevented Preston’s murder” and the Government has pledged to ensure “anyone responsible for negligence faces consequences”.
A local child safeguarding practice review (LCSPR), launched by Oldham Council after the child’s death, will look at whether there were any missed opportunities to spot issues with his care while he was alive.
Such reviews are carried out after the death or serious injury of a child where abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be a factor and they consider the work of all agencies involved including police, health, social care and education.
The national child safeguarding practice review panel – which considers the most serious incidents of child abuse and neglect to identify what can be learned – will work with the local review into Preston’s death “to get to the bottom of this horrifying case”, the Government said.
Former schoolteacher Varley was sentenced to a whole life order. (Lancashire Police)
The trial of Jamie Varley, convicted of the murder and sexual abuse of his adopted 13-month-old baby, heard Preston had been taken to hospital three times, was seen by a “battery of professionals” and that police had even been called in the weeks before his death.
Former schoolteacher Varley was sentenced to a whole life order on Thursday while his partner, ex-public schoolboy and sales manager John McGowan-Fazakerley, was jailed for 25 years for allowing Preston’s death.
Both had sexually assaulted and physically abused Preston after adopting him aged nine months and were convicted by a jury following an eight-week trial at Preston Crown Court.
Dame Rachel branded the case “truly harrowing” involving “unimaginable cruelty”.
She said: “I am clear that this is a failure of the state and the safeguarding system. The state decided Preston couldn’t be kept safe by his birth family, took responsibility for securing him a safer future, and this child has been murdered.
“I have a responsibility to challenge the system and will not stop until I find out what has happened.
“We know that in his short life Preston went to A&E multiple times, the police were called and a social worker visited. The judge said that professionals were reassured by his killer’s profession and manner. I need to know whether we could have prevented 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 back to the same point: we need professional curiosity across the child protection system. We need a system that promotes working together, information sharing, accountability and, crucially, learning lessons.”
England’s Children’s Commissioner has branded the “harrowing” death of baby Preston Davey at the hands of his adoptive father “a failure of the state and the safeguarding system”. (Lancashire Police)
A safeguarding review in November 2025 found murdered 10-year-old Sara was “failed by the safeguarding system” in multiple ways throughout her short life and found that her father’s domestic abuse had been overlooked and underestimated.
The report into numerous missed opportunities concluded that while a “great deal of information” was available to various authorities, even safeguarding professionals appeared to have been “groomed and manipulated” by her killer father, Urfan Sharif.
Sara, who was found dead in a bunk-bed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023, suffered what was described as “horrific abuse” at the hands of Sharif and her stepmother, Beinash Batool.
A review in May 2024 into efforts to safeguard six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes said it was difficult to understand why police did not step in after being sent a photograph of bruising suggesting he had been “subjected to a brutal assault”.
That report identified three critical missed opportunities involving police and social care within nine days, and said pictures of the child’s injuries sent to the authorities “could and should have changed the course of this case”.
Arthur was murdered 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 her mother’s girlfriend at her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in September 2020. Star’s mother Frankie Smith, 20, was found guilty of causing or allowing the youngster’s death.
Preston Davey's birth mother Sarah Davey (left) outside Preston Crown Court. (PA)
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