Preston Davey Trial #5

[MavisBeacon]

Images of the cot bars incident included JMF.

That's not how i read it - i read it as JMF says he told JV to lay Preston down immediately, went out of the room asuming JV would do that, but the duration of the photos suggest JV didn't lay him down immediately.

Eta obv i think JMF is lying anyway.

 

[Lyla001]

I don’t know why I still get the feeling there’s missing pieces in this case. To find no inkling of any previous sexual interest in children, to go through the incredibly intrusive process of adoption only to alarmingly quickly start harming the child. It’s like there’s a bit that’s been lost in the middle to explain the escalation. I can see why people who knew them may have struggled to make the leap to believing they had done something so heinous.

This . I've worked extensively with like minded pieces of shit over the years. Its highly unusual. Sorry to be direct- I know they ' have to start somewhere ' but the level of escalation in such a short period of time is concerning for two people with no previous history.

 

[Itchy of Itchington]

Re the unanimous verdict. If you cannot come to one after many hours you can write a note to the judge to say this.
I was selected forewoman when I did my jury service. When we went out we took pens and papers and our files of evidence into our deliberation room and we had a call bell to summon the clerk. The Judge's direction had said we needed to have a unanimous verdict too. I asked for a show of hands for guilty and then not guilty and then any undecided. It was quite split so I then asked each person who believed guilty to explain why they felt that then the not guilty and then the unsures. Then I asked if anyone's view had changed and took a tally again. Then we discussed the sticking points so we went over the evidence bundles and our notes to clarify details and then voted again.

In the end we went from something like 5 guilty, 4 not guilty and 3 unsures to a majority of 11 to 1. The discussion was really helpful and I was one of the ones who changed my vote from as I was able to talk through my reasoning and came to a new conclusion.
When we still couldn't reach a verdict I wrote a note to the judge that said following deliberation we had not reached a unanimous decision but had a 11:1 majority. Judge wrote back to say he would accept this and called us back in. Standing up to deliver the verdict was quite scary and I did not look at the defendent just the clerk and then the Judge.

The not guilty vote came from a woman who said she just didn't want anyone to go to prison. They do indeed walk and sit amongst us.

 

[owen2110]

I was so, so worried that JMF would get away with it. Both guilty on all charges, what a result. Well done to the jury, i cannot imagine how difficult it has been to sit through this trial.

Justice for beautiful baby Preston

 

[ChastityDingle]

Well done, Jury. Well done.
I can feel chills going through me. I cannot imagine how those who knew and loved that beautiful baby must feel.

 

[Tofino]

The MEN also did exactly what I said has happened in the past. Not updated the original live feed but started a new one I thought I saw a banner about the verdict and refreshed the page and there was nothing there or on other news outlets either, so assumed I misread the banner. Found out here first in the end.

It's such a relief but it certainly doesn't feel good, does it? Just overwhelming sadness for that poor boy. I think there is a very, very strong case for a WLO for JV and I hope he gets it.

 

[L1fe0nM@rs]

She should save her crocodile tears for the baby her son brutalised to death.

I know I might be being a bit generous here but i hope they are shell shocked and in tears to learn that they have raised monsters rather than perceived injustice. Can you imagine learning that someone that you brought into the world is capable of that?

 

[Monkeydust24]

I think the previous team should definitely make a visit or even better a joint visit with the new team. The foster carer, on the one time she was allowed to visit, noticed he was stiff, pale, withdrawn. A SW said he couldn’t smile and when he tried he would cry. This is so different to the baby that was in the loving arms of his foster family. That doesn’t take a medical expert, it takes leading with safeguarding at all times.

All well and good in principle however, if you took a look on Google there are hundreds of vacancies. Social work is underfunded, stretched & people leave the profession in droves. There is a current crisis in social care that is not being reported on - I worked in a team where 15 social workers left in a month. The same team is now only young inexperienced social workers, people don’t want to do it anymore. I was a social worker for 12 years and left.

The resources aren’t there, there’s no staff & things get missed as it’s over stretched and underfunded. All the comments Iv seen online show how out of touch people are with regards to the reality of the crisis in social care. I saw a comment where someone said every visit should be with 2 social worker. They don’t have time in their week to visit the 40 children on their case load let alone doubling up

 

[simmyonfleek]

That “boo” video his poor little face. He looks like he doesn’t know whether to try and smile or cry god bless him. I hate those bastards with every fibre of my being

 

[HotesTilaire]

These two deviants have masked their sadistic leanings in the whole adoption process. A couple of gay guys i know have recently been accepted to adopt a baby boy. Im now wondering at the motivation that men want to care for babies without a mother figure. Women are hard wired and have the biological imperative to want to nurture babies, the whole thing now makes be feel uncomfortable.

Yeah like Frankie and Savannah?
This isn’t gay men, or men, it’s evil people.

 

[Tofino]

The likelihood of the majority of a jury being pdf's, is slim to none.

I have, however been on juries where people have openly admitted that they don't care what the outcome is and will go with the majority to get it over and done with!
It should be a factual discussion with a fair conclusion!

My mum has said she would never find someone guilty as she doesn't want to be responsible for sending someone to prison! She's not the slightest bit interested in considering any evidence. Fortunately she was able to get out of jury duty the one time she was called, because she really shouldn't be allowed to sit on a jury with that attitude!

 

[maytoseptember]

Just seen JV’s police mugshot on the DM website. He looks absolutely appalling for 37 (maybe even 36 at the time). All I can say is the deviance within seems to be showing on his face.

 

[KittyGhosts]

I honestly think it was a bit of both.

And whilst I agree that SWs have a thankless, exhausting task, and it's not a job I would want for love nor money, I think that 'heart emoji-ing" messages to clients is totally unprofessional. I've said it before - there is a tendency for some women to infantilise gay men for some reason. Don't ask me why, but the over-dramatic individuals like JV just play into this stereotype and get a free pass for a lot of things. The ones who act like grown-ups (which is the vast majority) tend to be treated that way.

I think that this particular SW really should have been aware of her biases (we all have them) so that she knew to think twice when she encountered a situation that played into them. I daresay she will now - but it's too late for Preston.

Also, the subconscious ever present awareness that men as a social class are able to hurt us physically and sexually, is sometimes overridden those blokes are gay. The relief that they’ll not adhere to ‘average’ male behaviours when it comes to our perception of risk of sexual harm towards us as women can swing into that infantilisation and some othering.

It’s observable in women (as a generalisation) changing behaviour eg having no qualms about sharing a bed/room/getting undressed with their gay mate as he’s not going to be a creepy fucker like your straight male friend.

Because women and girls are always risk assessing their actions when it comes to men and changing their everyday lives and routines to accommodate this (don’t go down that dark street cos there’s a man there, sitting near to another woman on an empty train carriage away from the gang of pissed blokes, refusing a lift home from a male stranger etc) we’re probably just fucking relieved to have a tiny bit of time in the company of males who don’t seem predatory.

What this can do is lower our perception of safety when it comes to other male behaviours. We’re just so fucking relieved that we’re not going to be raped by this lovely chap who has no desire to ever fuck a woman and therefore include him in our ‘low risk’ group ascribed to women and girls.

Our species relies on making judgements and assessing risks. It’s not a moral issue when it comes to ancient inbuilt instincts like women being able to correctly sex a person from a distant by observing their gait/proportions/physicality. Women have a near perfect accuracy as opposed to men cos it’s based on evolutionary survival.

 

[MmmB777]

I’ve just watched Wendy Logan from the CPS give her statement from outside the court. Her voice is trembling and she looks very emotional.
This will have taken such a great toll on all the professionals involved. Thinking of them tonight too. They should all feel so proud

 

[Tofino]

Sentencing on Thursday.

 

[MmmB777]

Getting a bit fed up of “dramatic” or “that’s his personality” ..he’s a psychopath. Narcissist. Sadistic freak. Is that just “personality”. He’s a weirdo.

 

[DipsyDoodle]

Preston's foster mother is the unsung heroine here - she tried so hard to raise awareness, but was shut up by SWs and blanked by those two POS. She must be torturing herself, wishing she'd just rung the police, or forced her way into the house kicking and screaming or something. She did everything she could and was fobbed off and ignored.

What an absolute legend she is for hearing the bullshit JV said about her telling them to do "free willy" time, and coming back to court to dispute that she ever said that.

She can hold her head high now that she did the best she could for Preston when he was in her care, and she did the best she could to assist in bringing the pair of deviants to justice.

 

[Muz72]

Not wishing to derail the discussion about the social standing of these two. Successful sales people as a rule are excellent manipulators, so his ability to present himself in a certain way is second nature, on the witness stand & police interviews. I just hope this particular sales pitch wasn’t successful with jury.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

Ive worked with children and young people in various capacities for the last fifteen years, and can easily say that by far the worst cases of child neglect I’ve ever seen have come at the hands of middle class professional parents. In fact one of the most chaotic mothers I’ve come across was actually a social worker herself. Her kids were fucking filthy, foul mouthed and feral and yet there she was supposedly offering support to other parents. It’s mad. These people slip through the net because social workers and social services tend to flock around deprived areas, poorer families, young single mums etc. Its not that they don’t need help and support but they fail to regonise that abuse and neglect can happen anywhere regardless of class.

 

[Tom Fun]

What an absolute bloody relief!
So glad they didn't get away with it. I wish them nothing but a lifetime of fear and suffering. Utter, utter fucking monsters.

Thanks to everyone for posting updates and summaries. Someone I knew went through not a dissimilar thing as a looked after child, so it's been pretty close to the bone and upsetting to say the least, so it's been appreciated being able to get the facts without getting too bogged down in all the reporting. It hurts my soul that this still happens, it's been nearly 40 years since my friend went through it and sweet f all has changed and it's still the same old lessons will be learned.

It sounds so bloody glib in the face of what he went through, but I'm glad Preston isn't suffering anymore and justice has been done.