Hospital that treated Preston Davey saw two children, later murdered, in 24 hours and failed to raise alarm
In June 2023, a child was in hospital with a bruise on his head. The hospital did not raise the alarm, and the child was later killed in horrific circumstances. But we are not referring to Preston...
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
The death of Preston Davey made national headlines and there have rightly been calls - led by The Post and The Gazette - for an inquiry into the failures that allowed such prolonged and cruel abuse to take place despite opportunities from both adoption services and Blackpool Victoria Hospital to raise the alarm.
Our investigation, published today, shows that Preston was not the first. The day before an opportunity was missed to save Preston, another child was taken into Blackpool Victoria Hospital. He had a bruise on his head, the alarm wasn’t raised. That child, too, was later murdered.
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Lancashire briefing
🗳️ MPs in Lancashire have praised Keir Starmer for his commitment after he announced plans to step down as Prime Minister. Paul Foster, who represents the South Ribble constituency, was one of more than a hundred Labour MPs who had already publicly called for the Prime Minister to quit amid the fallout from last month’s local election results. He said: “Sir Keir Starmer is a decent man, as I’ve always said – but I feel it was inevitable that he would resign following a number of continuing self-inflicted challenges his government created.” He would add: “I will be fully supporting Andy Burnham to take over as our leader and he has my wholehearted support.” Lizzi Collinge, the Morecambe and Lunesdale MP, said he had “made the right decision to resign” and “shown remarkable grace in the way he has done so” – but she did not comment on who should succeed him at number 10. Rossendale and Darwen MP Andy MacNae said that “days like today are hard on a human level”. He added: “We can no longer look like defenders of the status quo. We must share the British people’s rightful frustration at decades of underinvestment and falling standards. I look forward to working with colleagues from across the party in the weeks, months and years ahead to make this a reality.”
🚗 Local politicians should continue to make the case for a new road bridge over the River Ribble near Preston – even though it might take 50 years to come to pass. That was the message from Ribble Valley MP Maya Ellis after she made a direct call on the government to assess the economic benefits such a crossing could deliver. The long-vaunted blueprint for creating a second route across the river – between Lea and Penwortham – has been bolstered in recent years by the completion of two other road-building schemes that underpin the vision for the bridge project. The opening of the Penwortham bypass (John Horrocks Way) in 2019 and the Preston Western Distributor Road (Edith Rigby Way) four years later boosted the argument for the cross-river connection, which is also backed by the Preston and South Ribble MPs, Sir Mark Hendrick and Paul Foster. The bridge is intended to reduce congestion by completing a ring road running from the A582/M65 at Cuerden to the M55 at Bartle – via the bypass and the distributor road – which would funnel traffic away from Preston city centre and the surrounding area. One of the biggest benefits would be its capacity to act as an alternative route to the M6 through Central Lancashire when the motorway is gridlocked or closed – scenarios that currently cause chaos on local roads.
🏠 The loss of power at a Lancashire council to decide major housing plans is an ‘attack on democracy’, critics claim. Rossendale councillors have blasted a ‘designation notice’ by the government, meaning developers can now submit housing applications directly to national planning inspectors rather than the borough, if they wish. It came after figures suggested Rossendale Council had the highest rate of planning appeals granted by national inspectors between 2023 and 2025. Government ministers said they would intervene where councils are not meeting expectations and hold them accountable for performance. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook handed notices to nine councils, where more than 10 per cent of appeals were allowed by inspectors following previous refusals by councils. The aim is to speed-up the delivery of much-needed homes across the UK and help councils to show they can make ‘quality planning decisions’, the government added. However the town hall said just two applications put it over the threshold. One was for 71 homes at Fieldfare Way, Bacup, and the other was for 44 homes at Hardman Avenue, Rawtenstall. And it does not believe the designation is appropriate.
Hospital that treated Preston Davey saw two children, later murdered, in 24 hours and failed to raise alarm
By Michael Holmes
Medics at Blackpool Victoria Hospital failed to flag a suspicious injury to another child murder victim just hours before a crucial missed opportunity to save Preston Davey, it can be revealed.
Healthcare workers noticed a bruise on two-year-old Damion Russell’s head but did not ask his father how it had happened, despite safeguarding rules requiring them to do so.
Less than eight weeks later, Damion was dead, killed in a “horrifically violent” attack by his father Daniel Hardcastle.
Damion’s Vic visit came on June 29 2023 - a day before a poorly Preston was taken to A&E with bruising that also failed to trigger an intervention.
A month later, Preston was murdered by his adoptive father, 37-year-old South Shore Academy teacher Jamie Varley.
It was the second of three A&E trips in the run-up to the 13-month-old’s slaying.
Today’s revelation, which follows a Lancashire Lead investigation, raises more questions about safeguarding at the Vic.
Blackpool South’s Labour MP Chris Webb said: “We need to do better, and we know that the state has been failing these young kids, young babies.”
Damion was born in July 2021 and spent his first 10 months with his mother before being taken into care.
He then lived for almost nine months with foster parents, who described him as a “delight” who would “light up any room with his smile and his chuckle”.
After a DNA test proved he was Damion’s father, Hardcastle was granted sole custody and the pair moved into a Central Drive flat in May 2023.
He died three months later from a brain injury after being attacked by Hardcastle, whose murder trial was told the boy was “covered in injuries, top to toe and front to back”.
They included an adult bite mark, broken ribs, bruising and a tear inside his lip as if a drinking bottle had been shoved into his mouth.
Hardcastle claimed Damion had fallen and banged his head on a coffee table - but his trial was told the defendant had either forcefully shaken the child and banged his head or smacked it against a solid object.
Hardcastle is now serving a jail term of at least 22 years, with Preston Crown Court told he had googled several times for how to treat bruising in children and how long it lasts.
A later child protection review by Blackpool Council, similar to the one now being carried out into Preston’s life and death by Oldham Council, said Damion was seen with bruising four times between going to live with his father and his death.
A family support worker on a weekly visit saw a small bruise on the boy’s head on May 20 2023 and raised it with Hardcastle, who blamed his son for being unsteady on his feet.
Six days later, Damion was seen with a “small, faded bruise” on his head at the Home-Start toddler group. After being challenged, Hardcastle again blamed Damion’s lack of balance.
And on May 31, the support worker saw bruises on the child’s head that appeared to be “fading” - with Hardcastle telling her they were from “multiple stumbles” over the last week.
The review found: “On all of the occasions set out above, when a bruise was observed, practitioners followed expected practice by asking about the bruise.
“The conclusion of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review is that practitioners’ acceptance of the father’s explanation for the bruising on each occasion was reasonable.
“(Damion) was known to have developmental delay and the unsteadiness on his feet aligned with his development stage.
“(The boy) was also observed by professionals as being unsteady on his feet on numerous occasions and the bruises were on an exposed and prominent part of the body, which is a natural place for accidental bruising to occur.”
But the review continued: “The only time practitioners did not follow expected practice was when (Damion) was taken to hospital, having suffered a febrile convulsion, on June 29 2023.
“It was noted that (Damion) had an ‘old, mild black bruise spot’ on his forehead. The father was not asked about this, which was the expected practice.”
The Lancashire Lead asked the Vic why it was the one setting where such a basic safeguarding question was not asked.
It did not answer.
It also did not say, when asked, if Damion and Preston were seen by the same medics, or answer several other key questions.
Instead, it released a statement from chief executive Maggie Oldham saying: “This was a deeply tragic and upsetting case, and our thoughts remain with Damion’s family and loved ones.”
She said the Vic “fully accepts” the reviews findings and, while it made “no specific recommendations relating to Damion’s treatment while under the care of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, we recognise the importance of continuing to strengthen practice and provide reassurance to families using our services”.
Oldham continued: “Importantly, work was already underway before the review was published to support staff in the Emergency Department and in other areas where children are cared for.
“This has focused on making sure appropriate examinations take place, that staff are confident in asking the right questions, and that any concerns are considered and escalated in line with safeguarding processes.
“Families bringing their children to our hospital can expect our teams to ask questions about any bumps, bruises or other injuries identified, whether recent or older. For babies who are not walking independently, our teams will carry out a full examination while they are in the Emergency Department.”
On June 30 2023, the day after Damion’s admission, Preston was taken to the Vic by his adoptive fathers Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley, with medics noting a bruise on the youngster’s head.
Varley told nurses that Preston had pulled a toy box on to himself while playing and showed them an almost two-week-old video in a bid to hide his evil deeds.
The fact he succeeded has been branded a “massive safeguarding failure” by Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel De Souza, who said last week: “I have huge numbers of questions and I’m not going to let go until I have the answers.”
And Webb told The Lancashire Lead: “We put in vulnerable mechanisms to protect vulnerable individuals who don’t have a voice for themselves.
“But clearly it’s not been as successful as it should be in identifying issues and making sure they’re investigated properly.”
Webb, as well as Fylde MP Andrew Snowden, has called for a public inquiry into possible safeguarding failures linked to Preston Davey.
He said: “This isn’t about pointing a finger at any individual, body, organisation, institution - there’s just been failings right across the board.
“For many of us, especially those of us with young children, especially young boys, it has been a real concern and these cases are just heartbreaking.”
He continued: “We have to do better. This cannot happen. When you read the horrific revelations through baby Preston’s whole case and what occurred there, it’s just unimaginable.
“I had to put the reports I was getting and the briefings I was getting down several times, because it was just so hard to read and imagine that someone could do that to a child.”
Asked what answers he is specifically looking for from the inquiry into Preston’s death, Webb said there is a need to make sure the “right questions are asked, rather than how the hell were these vile, evil individuals” allowed to adopt in the first place.
“I think, for me, this is looking at where did those systems fail? When issues were raised, why weren’t they followed up?
“Why were they dismissed so easily?”
There are concerns locally that those involved in Preston’s care may have positively discriminated against his killers, refusing to believe that a teacher and his privately educated salesman boyfriend could act so malevolently.
“Why were the parents believed so easily and these concerns not flagged?” Webb asked.
“Was there an unconscious bias because they were same-sex parents?
“These are legitimate questions we do have to talk about and ask.
“Was that an issue? Were hospital staff uncomfortable raising that?
“Was it because he was a teacher, so instantly that meant, ‘Oh, he must be a good person, he’s a teacher - it will be fine, his story must check out’?”