Blackpool Victoria Hospital saw two children, later murdered, in 24 hours and failed to raise alarm
In June 2023, a child was in hospital with bruising. The hospital did not raise the alarm, and the child was later killed in horrific circumstances. But we are not referring to Preston Davey.
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool 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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Blackpool briefing
🗳️ Both Blackpool MPs have thrown their weight behind Andy Burnham to become the new leader of the Labour Party - and Prime Minister - after the news of Keir Starmer’s resignation. Chris Webb, for Blackpool South, said: “Andy Burnham has my full support. I voted for Andy in both the 2010 and 2015 leadership contests because I believed then, as I do now, that he understands the challenges facing working people and communities like ours. He has the ability to connect with the public, to inspire hope and to honestly articulate why difficult decisions sometimes need to be made.” While Lorraine Beavers, for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, said: “Communities like mine, who have been decimated by years of austerity and privatisation, still feel unheard. This is why I called for his resignation. For too long, the voice of the North has been drowned out by a Westminster too focussed on London – and I know that other communities across the country feel the same. Andy Burnham ran a campaign in Makerfield based on hope, fairness, justice and a redistribution of power, securing an overwhelming victory. His success proves that these are the values people want to see and, as the Labour Party, we must now work to the same goal.”
⛪ A funding problem has hit ambitious plans for a vital new youth amenity in an area of Blackpool. The proposals for a new Youth & Skills Space at Layton Methodist Church are approved and ready to move into the construction phase. However, rising costs have created a final funding gap which must be closed before work can begin. The project has been developed over the past three years through conversations with young people, families, residents and local partners. At the recent Layton Youth Forum, young people again highlighted the importance of somewhere welcoming to meet, practical activities to take part in, trusted adults around them and clearer routes into skills, training and work. The Youth & Skills Space will respond to that remit. It will create a dedicated, accessible base for activities, digital learning, cookery, mentoring, wellbeing support, volunteering and support into training, apprenticeships and employment.
🍴 An empty site within Blackpool town centre could feature a shiny aluminium hot food kiosk, if plans get the go ahead. The “visually distinct” American Airstream-style unit would be sited at a vacant plot on the corner of East Topping Street and Deangate. An application has been submitted to planners for use of land for the siting of a catering trailer – with associated generator – for the sale of refreshments and installation of hard surfacing, planters, and 2.4m security fencing. The applicant is listed as Mr Paul Wilson, of the company Location Sensation Ltd. A heritage statement submitted in support of the proposals notes that the site falls within the Blackpool Extended Town Centre Conservation Area.
Blackpool Victoria Hospital 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 Blackpool 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 Blackpool 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 Blackpool 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’?”