Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “This is a truly harrowing case and today will be a very difficult day for all who loved Preston Davey. In delivering the sentences, the judge described the unimaginable cruelty of the crimes.
“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 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.
“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. That is why I am pushing for a Child Protection Authority and the Single Unique Identified to be brought in without delay.”
