Former teacher guilty of sexually abusing and murdering baby boy he wanted to adopt - CPS

This case is horrifying. I know there are people baying for blood and to a certain extent I can understand that. But I hope that (in Preston’s name) this case is the catalyst for change.

• how and why were the hospital admissions not an automatic trigger for a full and thorough investigation why Preston wasn’t removed from his adoptive parents care?
• why did the full adoption process not uncover more about the behaviour of these two individuals? I do not believe for a second that there wasn’t past behaviour to be found.
• Why were social services so content to just overlook clear red flags? is this another example (following Henry Nowak) of political correctness run amok?
• Baby Preston was adopted to a male only household. Why did social services fail to consider this as an increased risk factor?
• why were the concerns raised by foster carers dismissed so freely? Even with the other pieces of information?

I do think that the fact that these two deplorable humans were gay was a factor in the neglectful lack of intervention- and that behaviour must be rooted out and stamped on.

Each individual case easily explained yes. But 3 separate visits to the exact same hospital absolutely and bruising each time not. There's no excuse for it other than the obvious.

Cases like this make me even more concerned about surrogacy because there is zero safeguarding and monitoring of those babies.

What you write is horrifying. I'm afraid you really have to "write a book". Or at least get a reporter to do it, or somehow find a way to make what you know, known to everyone who should be made aware.

The 12 year old 'consenting to rape by stepfather.

The two year old with anal warts.

Children must be protected not only from the abusers but from the enablers. By enabling, they are law-breaking, colluding.

Your post indicates they are apparently a united mass of criminally negligent, child-failing, professionals. All are taking salaries to protect, yet instead destroying.

Shielding children from perverts and murderes cannot be left to people like the nursery, and you, and to "luckily" having extremely good lawyers.

I pray that neither of them are able to kill themselves whilst inside. They truly deserve to be terrified for the rest of their lives.

I would have hated being adopted by two men and having two fathers. Sorry but it's true. I have no other words for the most evil acts, in fact I haven't really read the details. Remember evil walks amongst us every day. Be careful who you leave your kids with.

Oh dear 😔.

I’m sure that there was a comment at some point from the neighbours that they had never hear a baby cry so much.

I do not agree with the idea that gay men should not adopt but i do agree it should be discussed

I'm sorry but Mumsnet deleting posts that presumably had people saying two men shouldn't be allowed to adopt is part of the same problem that led to be people being obsessed with not being called bigots as their priority when it came to making sure a baby wasn't murdered.

We MUST be allowed to discuss this.

OMG.

There needs to be a trial into the social workers.

Ah, I see what you're getting at. Yes, I agree.

I know and I don’t thibk anything in my post suggested that. I only clarified she isn’t 14.

I saw the birth mum’s details are all over the place she was a murderer at age 14.

In my experience ( ran women's refuge services, and yes only biological women)

I was involved in trying to fend off care proceedings against “feckless”women who had dangerous men in their lives.

What was stark was that we had women in refuge who were protecting their children from sexual abuse.

what was lamentable was that social workers seemed to struggle with this concept, and the mothers assertions were often received with scepticism.

I had a case of a step dad rape of a 12 year old which the social worker deemed consensual

The worst one was a child with anal warts, he was two.

the Social services day nursery workers phoned me up crying as referrals in to their own council team did nothing,, his behaviour deteriorated every time he had enforced contact.

Mother was young and emotionally paralysed by the situation.

we took it in to family court.

CAFCAS and social care, as did dad’s barrister argued for contact.

Luckily we had a shit hot team of a solicitor and barrister.

I could write a book.

we need independent oversight where children are involved which is not attached to statutory services.

BTW NSPCC are equally shit

He was born with an opioid in his system, all be it one I believe given as an alternative to street drugs in pregnancy.

That case was the one I referred to in my earlier post. Poor Elsie had a number of previous injuries yet the red flags were ignored. Some idiot even wrote about how lovely ‘dad’ was - that’s the ‘dad’ who broke her leg, shook her and eventually killed her. These imbeciles are incapable of correctly assessing ‘sacred castes’ because they’re too busy grinning inanely at how clever and lovely they are, and they automatically assume they’re great and everything is better than fine. They sit there patting themselves on the back for being so ‘open-minded’ while anyone with half a brain would have spotted something was wrong.

In Elsie’s case too, a family member wanted to look after her but she was rejected annd Elsie was placed with these two men instead - and was killed two weeks after she was officially adopted.

I know, just really feel the media have been inappropriate in the extreme in publicising her name.

I agree about the enabling. But I, too, doubt that it's just about 'sacred groups' although it may be a part of it - that'll partly be down to whatever policies the adoption agency have in placement.

I think the issues here are much wider than that, not only in the bias that seems to have been involved (class, as someone said, is a feature, as well as those 'professional markers' like teacher, safeguarding lead blah blah, though I'd have thought knowledge these days would make people more aware rather than less that that does not make someone a fine upstanding citizen necessarily, as several recent cases have demonstrated). Edit: and to add, as others have said, yes bias towards adoption and adopters as the 'ideal' end point is a part of this too.

It's also about the joined up thinking of the agencies involved. The failures of those dots being joined is something that's come up in previous cases and are known risks or issues in such cases. It's not just "hindsight" or individual incidents, and awareness of the particular features and patterns to watch out for in such cases are not new, hence they are meant to be part of guidelines already. But I suspect standards have slipped for one reason or another.

The adoption process does seem to have been remarkably quick, esp for such a young baby, but we don't know how that would compare with, say, a heterosexual couple. I do think the usual "professional curiosity" that is meant to be there at all times (and many people HAVE experienced from their own social workers, so it's not 'everyone' in the system who is failing) doesn't seem to have been in this case.

You don't just accept the adults' explanation without checking. It is something those who are supposed to be monitoring are warned about, especially in cases of looked after children. There are red flags all over this.

I don't think anyone has suggested that?

Here’s hoping!
Animals don’t this but humans do it’s sick and depraved.

Has committed no crime in this context though.

Mum is 41/42 but convicted of murder at 14.