The father of a baby who was left to die at home by his mother is calling on the government to make it illegal to leave a child unsupervised.
Twelve-month-old Ethan Davis was found dead in his cot after temperatures soared to over 27 degrees Celsius – but detectives couldn’t prove that he died as a result of his abandonment.
His evil mother Stacey Davis left the youngster at their Melksham home as she swanned around for more than two hours, getting her car washed and taking another child to the park.
The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to an offence of child cruelty and was jailed for two years at Salisbury Crown Court in December.
Now Ethan’s family want it to be unlawful for any child under the age of five to be left unsupervised.
The law would allow police to act sooner – before harm comes to a child.
In Ethan’s case, a Serious Case Review revealed that opportunities were missed by the authorities and Davis had previously admitted leaving Ethan home alone on at least one previous occasion.
Had it been illegal to leave a child age under five at home alone, Davis could have been prosecuted earlier and social services may have acted to prevent future abandonment.
Wiltshire Police confirmed, in a Freedom of Information request, that there has been a steep rise in reports of children being left unsupervised.
In 2022, officers probed 39 reports about 55 children being left alone – up from just 11 reports in 2021. Seven of the 2022 reports relate to children under the age of five.
Despite the large number of reports last year, nobody was charged with a child cruelty offence. However, a 38-year-old man was issued an adult caution.
The force confirmed that there are 17 live investigations into reports of children being left unsupervised – involving 24 potential victims.
NSPCC guidance says that a child aged under three “should never be left alone – even for 15 minutes while you pop down the road”, however, this is now law – just advice.
It adds: “This applies not just to leaving them home alone but also in your car while you run into the shops.”
The new legislation, nicknamed Ethan’s Law, would make it a crime in England and Wales to: “Leave a child aged under five alone without supervision, where the person responsible for the child’s health and safety is unable to reasonably react to any circumstances that may expose said child to the risk of injury or death.”
Ethan’s father Luke Turvey said that had this law been in place at the time back in 2018, his son may still be alive today.
He said: “Getting this law in place is really important to me because I don’t want what happened to Ethan to happen to any other child.
“I feel like if it had been in place the first time social services were informed Ethan was being left at home alone, it would have been taken more seriously and actually investigated.
“I would even go as far as saying he might still be alive today.”
Support the petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/633992
