Officials who missed chances to save murdered baby Preston Davey should face a police investigation into possible negligence, a former Home Secretary has urged.

Jack Straw said a public inquiry into how the 13-month-old was sexually abused and killed by adoptive father Jamie Varley, 37, would take too long.

The former minister believes the threat of prosecution would encourage officials to ‘think better of their public responsibilities’ and be less susceptible to be ‘taken in’ by lying adults.

After secondary school head of year Varley was convicted of murder on Monday and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child, it emerged there were eight chances to save Preston.

Serious questions are being asked about the scrutiny faced by the middle class couple, who lived in an immaculate home in Blackpool, Lancashire.

Preston’s grandmother Debbie Davey has suggested officials may have been reluctant to intervene in case they were branded ‘homophobic’. She has called for social workers to be sacked.

Over a period of four months, 'pure evil' Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley physically, psychologically and sexually assaulted the child under the noses of social workers and hospital staff.

Varley was said to have treated Preston as his 'plaything' when left alone with him for long periods as McGowan-Fazakerley, a sales executive for a finance firm, travelled for work.

Missed chances to save Preston - who died in July 2023 and would have turned four yesterday TUES – comprised three hospital visits including for a seizure and a broken elbow, where bruises were noted, and home visits by social workers.

Varley also confessed of having ‘dark thoughts’ to a colleague and there was a welfare visit by his headteacher.

Mr Straw - Home Secretary between 1997 and 2001 and Labour MP for Blackburn, Lancs., for 36 years - said: ‘What I think should be considered is a police investigation into whether any of the public officials were so negligent that their conduct may amount to malfeasance in public office.

‘In my view it will only be when people such as social workers are thinking better of their public responsibilities and are less taken in by their 'clients' that we'll see a cultural change amongst these professions.

‘This is not to deny that they have a very difficult job but the current climate in parts of their profession does not make it easier.’

He added that holding a public inquiry could ‘take ages to get going, and even longer to report’.

Oldham Council, responsible for Preston’s adoption, has already commissioned an independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review, which will examine the circumstances around the tragedy.

A spokesperson for Claire Waxman, Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales called Preston’s murder ‘a devastating case’ and said the review ‘must be transparent’ and answer ‘serious questions’.

‘This level of offending does not emerge without warning signs. Preston Davey should have been protected,’ the spokesperson said.

‘The Child Safeguarding Practice Review must be transparent, answer serious questions, and ensure lessons are learned to prevent future harm to children.’

A senior social worker told the Daily Mail that Preston would likely have been a ‘lower priority’ for his social worker, Amy Shepherdson, because Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved adoptive parents who had been through ‘months and months of extremely thorough vetting and assessments.’

The source said: ‘Preston’s social worker would have had a lot of children on her case load – some in children’s homes, others in foster care or living with their birth parents under supervision.

‘Preston was with prospective adoptive parents – seemingly middle-class parents with professional jobs - who had been already thoroughly scrutinised.

‘He might not have been high on his social worker’s agenda because his adoptive parents had already been vetted within an inch of their lives.’

Another social worker, who also contacted the Daily Mail, speculated that Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley had somehow managed to manipulate social services.

She said: ‘There would have needed to be a deep and consistent level of deception from the applicants throughout the process in a scenario like this one.’

Larger-scale inquiries have been held into other child abuse killings.

A national review headed by Dame Annie Hudson, former chair of the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, was held into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, six, and Star Hobson, 16 months.

Both children were murdered in 2020 by their parents' partners.

Dame Annie’s report highlighted ‘wider problems’ in the sector including weak decision-making and poor information sharing between different professionals.

Preston’s case bears similarities to the death of 18-month-old Elsie Scully-Hicks, who was shaken to death by her adoptive father Matthew Scully-Hicks in Cardiff in 2016.

The following year, Scully-Hicks, then 31, was found guilty of murder.

A review of Elsie’s death, by Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Regional Safeguarding Children’s Board, found professionals viewed the adoption by Scully-Hicks and his husband Craig as ‘very successful’ and considered events in the child’s life through a ‘positive lens’.

Injuries including a double-broken leg and bruising to her head over a six-month period ‘were never considered as anything other than childhood accidents,’ the review found.

After the case, social workers in South Wales introduced unannounced calls on adoptive families and out-of-hour visits if one parent works or is often away from home.

The NSPCC has called for better intervention to prevent future tragedies and said it is ‘vital’ that any recommendations from an inquiry into Preston’s death are ‘fully acted upon’.

Oldham Council said: ‘An independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review is already underway, which will examine the handling of Preston's safeguarding.’