Preston Davey Trial

Lynn’ssnazzycardigan · May 7, 2026

MaryLou32 said:
The system is broken and not fit for purpose, as is. It's nothing to do with gay or straight, posters who keep trying to bring it back to that, only reveal their own prejudice

That’s a fair point about people generally being reluctant to report and whistleblow imo. There is always a feeling of “what if I’m wrong/jeopardising my position” but a children’s social workers job is literally to question everything and be an advocate for the child. If they are not bold enough to do it they shouldn’t be in the job. The fact some don’t feel like they can is a system failure as (I think) you pointed out. I do think may has a point that a woman would have been judged more harshly and scrutinised more closely when things were going wrong. Because whether you like it or not, people are not objective and they do make more allowances for men. Prime example is when a Dad “babysits” his own kids or is held up as some shining example for doing the bare minimum expected of the mother.

MaryLou32 · May 7, 2026

Lynn’ssnazzycardigan said:
That’s a fair point about people generally being reluctant to report and whistleblow imo. There is always a feeling of “what if I’m wrong/jeopardising my position” but a children’s social workers job is literally to question everything and be an advocate for the child. If they are not bold enough to do it they shouldn’t be in the job. The fact some don’t feel like they can is a system failure as (I think) you pointed out. I do think mice has a point that a woman would have been judged more harshly and scrutinised more closely when things were going wrong. Because whether you like it or not, people are not objective and they do make more allowances for men. Prime example is when a Dad “babysits” his own kids or is held up as some shining example for doing the bare minimum expected of the mother.

Totally. Another completely outdated belief.

I agree with what you're saying to a degree- allowances for men- yes perhaps, in the sense of 'a mother might have noticed that full nappy sooner, dad didn't realise the nappy was full as quickly as he might have' or something along those lines but allowances re concerns of harm and abuse. I don't think so

Jayneh2020 · May 7, 2026

maytoseptember said:
Just to clarify (I can only speak for myself but others may agree) that homosexuality isn’t really a factor in this, only in that if males find themselves applying to adopt with no mother figure on the scene, they are invariably a gay couple. I am uneasy about men adopting: gay, straight, single or couples. I believe that men and women are fundamentally different and men (like their male mammal counterparts in the animal kingdom) don’t have the same nurturing instincts and drives as women.

Not only does this make men a suboptimal prospect when it comes to adopting children, it goes some way to explaining why JV and JFM weren’t flagged as potential abusers despite multiple A&E visits (including a broken arm) in a very short space of time. People expected them to be inept because they were men.

Agree completely, didnt one of them have no experience what so ever with kids wasn't it john? And the other one had experience with neices and nephews this in itself should have been a flag like no experience around children should have been a no.
I went through adoption process for my nephew and it was intense to the point they said to me if they see a bruise on him they will take him and my kids aswell to be investigated I ended the process at that point I knew they was probably doing it cos they didnt want any family members to have him but the process seems to be strict so I dont get why these 2 flew through it. One that had no experience around little ones and the other who just comes across stupid and doesnt look a full shilling.
I hope this is a lesson learnt to social workers.

Jayneh2020 · May 7, 2026

So varley got into shower and conditioned his hair but arrived at the hospital with blown dry hair hmmmmmmmm !!! Ok surely if he wasn't breathing after he took him out the bath and took him straight to hospital they would both still have wet hair? Did he blow dry his hair and style it to put on his performance at the hospital? Absolute clown

Kebab girl · May 7, 2026

Here2BNosey said:
Fwiw I didn't read your comment that way. The wording was sloppy in part but I agree mostly with the sentiment. I think the first part about being held in high regard is true, and the SW IS a prime example of that. I don't blame the hospital staff, they repeatedly raised issues, the SW whitewashed these issues.
I'm not sure if it was anything to do with their being gay men or just the general air of respectability they gave off, but she definitely wasn't seeing the wood for the trees.

Did the hospital raise issues? they reported the attendances (it’s an automatic alert for looked after kids) but my understanding was they reported no concerns with the hospital attendances. i.e no reports of a non accidental injury or concern over repeated attendances. I think that’s what I’ve read.

Tanley · May 7, 2026

Regardless of who was looking after him, the amount of visits that Preston made to A&E in a short time should have been a red flag that needed to be investigated.
Did he suffer with breathing problems, regular accidents, and bruise easily while with his loving foster family? I suspect not, and that should have been another red flag.
A healthy, happy, yet vulnerable baby suddenly becomes accident prone. Why didn’t anyone join the dots?

Children/babies need love, protection, comfort, stability. They need to feel safe. Clearly poor Preston had none of these things in his adoptive home

On paper, JV would seem to be capable of being a good parent. An experienced teacher, a safe guarding lead, middle class, nice house, family support. He was able to talk the talk and impress those who needed to be.
Yet he clearly didn’t cope with Preston from day one, complaining about him crying and saying his foster mum had spoilt him
The physical, sexual and emotional abuse started happening so quickly that I can only conclude that it was JV’s main purpose in wanting to adopt a baby. He is a vile, disgusting excuse for a human being and I hope he suffers every day for the rest of his life.

Milliemoo99 · May 7, 2026

MaryLou32 said:
Yes I felt quite strongly about the fact that some people were adamant in their belief that gay men shouldn't be able to adopt and that gay men pose more of a risk to children than heterosexual couples. I commented previously about this on the real crime thread.
I agree, you could replace the word with any of those, that's literally why those words exist. People's prejudice, assumptions, fear of, discomfort, hostility towards these groups of people leading to homophobia, transphobia etc. Those groups of people are more likely to experience discrimination, abuse, exclusion, harassment etc
Of course there will be examples where people are reluctant to come forward to report wrongdoing of any description- for fear of being labelled a XXXXphobe, the reality is people generally are scared of reporting and whistleblowing- people's fear of doing so, is mostly rooted in, 'what if I'm wrong' 'what if I've accused an innocent person of something' and also 'I saw that, it's wrong, I should report it, but I don't want to involve myself or be at the centre of this' People can be scared to speak up generally, for fear of rebuttal, losing their job, causing a scene, being bullied or cast aside by colleagues.
The fact remains most people will report wrongdoing that they see within their job, regardless of the sexual orientation, race, sex etc of the person they are accusing.

I can't and will never get behind this 'they probably got away with it for so long because they're gay' rhetoric.
It's honestly ridiculous to think any person would overlook or ignore warning signs against a child just because 'aw but he's a cute little harmless gay man'
The system is broken and not fit for purpose, as is. It's nothing to do with gay or straight, posters who keep trying to bring it back to that, only reveal their own prejudice

This is a case and death that makes me sick to my stomach. I couldnt believe it when I saw it on the news earlier. That poor baby.

Yes it does sound as if the adoption /child care system is broken and not fit for purpose.

Personally I agree that gay couples are probably fine to adopt and care for children, but this case seems to illustrate massively a case where it wasnt suitable for this gay couple to adopt a tiny baby, and where massive mistakes seem to have been made placing this child with this family. Every other aspect of this case will be considered, so what is so wrong in considering the obvious?

I do doubt very much if a lesbian pair, would even dream of contemplating any kind of SA on a baby, so maybe the checks for men do need to be a bit more comprehensive to ensure this kind of thing never happens again.

sebanna · May 7, 2026

Varley's story doesn't make sense in regards to the video of Preston struggling to breathe. Was he struggling to breathe before or after the incident in the bath? Why didn't Varley call an ambulance instead of moving the bath seat, changing Preston's nappy twice and drying his hair? You would want to make contact with the emergency services straight away for resuscitation advice.

SamPam · May 7, 2026

And 2 nappy changes after a supposed drowning and struggling to breathe.

Milliemoo99 · May 7, 2026

VeniVidiVicki said:
They cancelled repeated meetings with Preston’s foster mother who is a very experienced carer. She contacted his social worker but his social worker didn’t do anything. Neither did she have any concerns about Preston’s repeated hospital admissions

Adoptive parents 'hid abused baby from foster mum', jury told

Sandra Cooper looked after Preston Davey from after his birth until he was adopted at 10 months.

www.bbc.co.uk

OMG this is horrific. What on earth was wrong with Preston's social worker?

MaryLou32 · May 7, 2026

Milliemoo99 said:
but this case seems to illustrate massively a case where it wasnt suitable for this gay couple to adopt a tiny baby, and where massive mistakes seem to have been made placing this child with this family. Every other aspect of this case will be considered, so what is so wrong in considering the obvious?

They weren't suitable because they are monsters, abusers, animals. Not because they are gay. Their sexuality has nothing to do with it.

Milliemoo99 said:
do doubt very much if a lesbian pair, would even dream of contemplating any kind of SA on a baby, so maybe the checks for men do need to be a bit more comprehensive to ensure this kind of thing never happens again.

You can doubt it, but you'd be wrong. All people, male, female, gay and straight are capable of and have committed horrendous acts of abuse.

Maybe the checks for all adoptive parents need to be more comprehensive and as well as, the follow up and monitoring for signs of red flags

Jayneh2020 · May 7, 2026

And now he just so happens to go in the room and point out brusies to his head and leg and then randomly lift up his lip and ask what are these thats new... he knew exactly what they where and covering it up !! Its making me sick

Lynn’ssnazzycardigan · May 7, 2026

sebanna said:
Varley's story doesn't make sense in regards to the video of Preston struggling to breathe. Was he struggling to breathe before or after the incident in the bath? Why didn't Varley call an ambulance instead of moving the bath seat, changing Preston's nappy twice and drying his hair? You would want to make contact with the emergency services straight away for resuscitation advice.

Horrible to say but I think it’s happened a fair few times before due to the nature of the abuse. Preston’s recovered on previous occasions (albeit with chest infections and seizures) but this time has been too bad. Probably why JV in such a state because he thought he’d get away with it again. So he’s maybe taken the time to get ready for the inevitable hospital visit when Preston’s looked poorly but instead of recovering he’s gone into respiratory arrest. I wonder about the 111 callback on a previous occasion that went unanswered, baby was probably in a lot of distress after being abused but had settled so they didn’t bother to get him checked over.

Milliemoo99 · May 7, 2026

MaryLou32 said:
They weren't suitable because they are monsters, abusers, animals. Not because they are gay. Their sexuality has nothing to do with it.
You can doubt it, but you'd be wrong. All people, male, female, gay and straight are capable of and have committed horrendous acts of abuse.

Maybe the checks for all adoptive parents need to be more comprehensive and as well as, the follow up and monitoring for signs of red flags

Having read more of this thread, I also wonder whether the apparent good reputation of Varley, the whole middle class teacher, with a respectable and responsible job has also influenced the way the social workers and establishment perceive him? He knew how to give the correct answers and the correct responses, how to deflect suspicion. So he wasnt questioned as much as he should have been about things like hospital visits?

The toddler was only with them for a few months, ok so toddlers do get covered in bruises as they learn to become independently mobile, but 3 visits in 3 months! its fairly obvious that Varley was struggling with him.

I dont think we have a lot of clarity today about how to bring up children and sooth children etc. So much of it is actually so basic, that people forget that when families were larger, most families saw childcare on a daily basis, and saw how their friends, family and neighbours coped with things like children who found it hard to sleep or feed etc. now its a lot more separated

The idea that you can spoil a 14 month old is ridiculous. Their ability to understand cause and effect is minimal. Yes they might understand if they are uncomfortable, or teething or hungry they cry and get a response, but thats it, A child of that age is entirely dependent on its care givers.

Lynn’ssnazzycardigan · May 7, 2026

Another small point. I thought it was generally agreed that bath seats are dangerous and shouldn’t be used? Surely they would have been pulled up on this by the social worker when they were inspecting the house? My mum was a kinship carer and she had to get smoke alarms fitted, buy a first aid kit and was made to throw out her chip pan, they are very thorough about safety in the home. If the adoption order hadn’t gone through then do social services retain parental responsibility at that time? If so they would have to follow the same rules as foster carers with such things. I really get the impression the SW was more concerned about the wellbeing of the parents and being their pal than she was about the safety of Preston.

Lucymyers · May 7, 2026

I only hope that the social worker who was sending love heart emojis has been sacked. She was able to be manipulated by the pair if them. And as for sending heart emojis...not professional at all

Emsie · May 7, 2026

I do agree that women hold gay men on a pedestal - but I think - well for me anyway - it's because we feel safe around them. They aren't going to abuse us like men do. We assume that they are nurturing and caring like women are.
This, of course, is bias. And we should recognise that bias in order to protect ourselves.
But of course gay people should be allowed to adopt and it shouldn't be assumed that they abused Preston because they are gay. They are abusers, who are also gay.

sebanna · May 7, 2026

Just reading the live updates. JV justified the second bath by saying Preston had vomited but in his police interview he ran it for him while he was having a nap

Jayneh2020 · May 7, 2026

sebanna said:
Just reading the live updates. JV justified the second bath by saying Preston had vomited but in his police interview he ran it for him while he was having a nap

I know hes being sick a fair bit i wonder if mum reports him being fairly sick that day, also he was sick in bath, changing table and in bedroom wonder if there is evidence of this not that it makes any difference as probably abusing him would cause him to be sick alot cant bare thinking about what actually went on in those few hours leading up to his death let alone the 4 months

stickytoffeepud · May 7, 2026

My mind just keeps going back to that awful amateur dramatic display at the hospital. I’m hoping that the display was put on as an act of desperation because he knew the game was up. I can only hope he was and is absolutely terrified

Preston Davey Trial

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