Trushali
- 18 June 2026
Children’s Commissioner says state ‘failed’ 13-month-old murdered Preston Davey
Published 18th Jun 2026, 11:53 BST
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel De Souza has said that the ‘broken body’ of murdered baby Preston Davey is at ‘the front of her mind’ as she branded the tragic incident as a ‘massive safeguarding failure’.
Calling on the Government to establish a Child Protection Authority ‘today’, Dame Rachel De Souza said she will pursue the question of whether the death of 13-month-old Preston Davey at the hands of killer ex-South Shore Academy teacher Jamie Varley, 37, was preventable.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme before the sentencing of Varley and his now ex-partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, of Staining Road, Staining, De Souza said: “What do we know about Preston? We know that very early into his adoption, and he was only an adoption with his family for four months, very early, he was taken to hospital with bruises.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel De Souza has said that the ‘broken body’ of murdered baby Preston Davey is at ‘the front of her mind’ as she branded the tragic incident as a ‘massive safeguarding failure’. | Iconic Media
“The consultant dismissed it. Did they dismiss it because it was a teacher adopter? Did that evil abuser hoodwink people under that professional guise? The social worker saw him 20 days before he died, I want to know whether the correct level of professional curiosity was there.
“I have huge numbers of questions, and I’m not going to let go until I have the answers. I’ve been waiting for this Child Protection Authority to be set up. There’s been a consultation, it’s gone too slow.
“My demand today to the Government is, get it open today. That is what we need. We need a child protection authority with teeth to actually hold accountability and make sure the system isn’t fragmented, and to be able to point to ‘you are accountable for this child’.
“Little Preston was taken from his mother and put into the care of the state. The state has failed him. We need to do better.”