Nursery staff warning about Nathan Bennett was ignored for months

A staff member’s warning about Nathan Bennett was ignored for months at Partou King Street Day Nursery & Pre-School in Bristol, even though the setting was caring for very young children and had been rated Good by Ofsted. The case now reads less like a single shocking crime than a failure to act on safeguarding red flags quickly enough.

Nathan Bennett, 30, worked at the nursery at 7-8 King Street, where Ofsted says the provider was registered in 2016 and operated all year round from 7am to 6pm. At the time of its 27 June 2023 inspection, 26 members of staff were working directly with children and the nursery was judged Good overall, a rating many parents would have taken as reassurance.

That reassurance has been shattered. The Crown Prosecution Service said Bennett was convicted at Bristol Crown Court of two counts of raping a child, four counts of sexual assault of a child and two counts of assault of a child by penetration, after previously pleading guilty to 13 other sexual offences. The offences took place in 2024 and 2025, and the children were aged between two and three years old. Bennett was sentenced on 16 March 2026 to 24 years in prison, with an extended licence period of six years.

The critical question is why the alarm was not raised sooner. Ofsted records for the nursery include a complaint action dated 25 June 2021 and a concern action dated 7 March 2025. BBC-linked reporting says the decisive safeguarding alert came when CCTV was reviewed in February 2025, prompting a report to Avon and Somerset Police and the local authority the same day. That chronology points to a reporting chain that only moved once direct evidence was examined, rather than when staff first voiced worries.

The nursery was later closed on 31 December 2025. Bristol City Council says its safeguarding board oversees and leads child protection arrangements in the city, and that anyone worried a child is being abused or neglected should make a referral to First Response. The wider lesson is stark: in early-years childcare, a Good inspection grade can never be allowed to substitute for urgent action when staff raise concerns about a colleague.