Preston Davey Trial

[maytoseptember]

I'm thinking a big part of at least one of those men wanting a baby was to abuse him. There were photos of Preston's anus and genitals, there's no excuse in the world that makes that okay.
Even if he had a rash or whatever you wouldn't take a photo?

I agree. There’s no way he just woke up one day deciding to sexually abuse their baby. Those urges don’t just appear suddenly, they were already entrenched.

Will be interesting to see whether Varley had previous for any sort of accusations of inappropriate behaviour during his teaching career. His choice of job won’t be a coincidence.

 

[BettyBeau]

I can’t believe that they started the introduction on Thursday 30th March and he was handed over on Monday 3rd April I mean wtf

 

[Lyla001]

My profile picture used to be my dogs - then it was Becky jones - from back in the lock down days when the threads were really quite fun. I had breast cancer and went through a hard time and didn’t post for a long time. And tbh - there’s not many threads I do post on now…. But anyway, I never really got round to changing it. I probably should tbh.
But again- I understand your point of view. There are lots of disappointing sw out there and I can see why you’d make a judgement on me. All I can say is - I work tirelessly for and with the families assigned to me and I’m very good at my job. I’m sorry if your experience hasn’t been positive.

Well, no judgement from the rest of us about your profile picture! Don't stop posting, especially on threads like this,your input as a sw is invaluable. Take no notice x

 

[Here2BNosey]

The DNA wasn't as bad as I thought. It really does hinge on the postmortem, because a lot of things can be explained away right now. Apart from the photos, but we don't really know what about them is deemed inappropriate. I have naked pictures of my kids as babies, and if their genitals are in them I didn't really care as they were innocent, not for sharing outside the family and not the focus of the picture. He could easily claim he was trying to do one of those baby photoshoots and using the bath as a white backdrop, a lot of those have the baby naked in them. I'm not saying he/they are innocent, but unless the pictures are explicit then is it really enough to prove beyond reasonable doubt at this stage the horrific things they're accused of?

The photos are the smoking gun so far to me. No one takes that many pictures of "their" baby naked. He wasn't a newborn he was a year old, so the naked photoshoots aren't really a thing at that age and even then I have never seen one with the babies genitals visible, a bare bum at most. The way the photos are described this far seems so far outside of normal that to me there's no reasonable explanation for them. Even in terms of the sheer amount of pictures where the baby is unclothed, it's just odd. Lifting a towel to show his privates while he's asleep in a bath with no water, when previous photos showed him covered up. It's not an accidental snap, it's posed that way.

 

[Orangesatsuma]

This article states that the birth mother was in court weeping during the trial. Whatever her situation and what she has or has not done in life, I do have a huge amount of empathy for the pain she must have felt hearing what had been inflicted on her baby.

 

[nothinonyou]

One thing that strikes me listening to the early part of The Trial podcast is that this had all the hallmarks of a quite predictable case. Man struggles to adapt to life with an adopted baby. Seems depressed. Alludes to having thoughts of harming the baby, and so on. Numerous visits to A&E with injuries that may or may not have been non-accidental. Preston’s murder could have quite easily echoed the murders of Elsie Scully-Hicks and Leiland-James Corkill were it not for the sexual abuse element.

It’s just impossible to fathom how one man’s contempt for this baby who (to his mind) destroyed his comfortable life could turn into sexual abuse. I mean it’s possible that Varley entered into the adoption process with that aim, but what if he didn’t? Did JV’s growing dislike and resentment of Preston morph into wanting to sexually abuse him, as some sort of sick and depraved punishment? I’m interested to know what the prosecution come up with, especially in terms of how JFM is implicated as well.

Probably because abuse comes in many forms, almost all forms are present here; sexual, physical and emotional. Nothing was off bounds to punish this baby because they disliked him.

I found it so sad in this podcast they said JV and Preston were in the bath together and Preston was happily playing in the water and JV very loudly shouted "boo!" Which scared Preston and caused him to cry. After they complained so much he never stopped crying , can't understand deliberately making him cry and filming it. So cruel

 

[teabob]

JV describing Preston as “very needy” makes my blood boil! No compassion whatever. It boggles my mind given his profession. He should have a really good understanding of trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Infant mental health is to be taken seriously. The first 1000 days from conception to 2 years can have a life-long effect on a child’s health and wellbeing. Even a baby who’s not had the challenges Preston experienced can be “needy”. I have no idea how JV passed an assessment to adopt. He must have modified his responses.

Baby’s can experience poor mental health. In my authority there is a specialist team. Sleeping and feeding issues can be an indicator

 

[Lynn’ssnazzycardigan]

And this was a nurse - can anyone tell me if this truly is a common injury as I rarely hear of it happening. Don’t see many 13 month old in arm casts either but maybe that’s just me

View attachment 3985912View attachment 3985913

Pulled elbow is quite a common injury (where there’s a dislocation) and it’s usually when a toddler is swung or pulled by the hands. My son got it when his brother rived him out of his playpen by his hands. It was a simple dislocation at the elbow and was popped back in when he was examined. The doctor was a bit skepical and took pains to remind me swinging them by their arms isn’t a good idea. When a piece of bone shears off it’s usually a place where a bone attaches to a joint and the joint is stressed to the point of pulling off a piece of bone. I would imagine by rough handling or deliberately/accidentally twisting an arm could do it. The fact Preston was a looked after child, and with inexperienced carers should have warranted further scrutiny of an injury of this nature.

 

[PaddyDomino]

That pacing looks like panic at being caught out, not sadness at poor little Preston losing his precious life.

This is what I think - the pacing, the vomiting, him saying "I'm done", "kill me", "I'm going to hell", doesn't he even say at one point "I f**king killed him", he's been caught and he's absolutely freaking out.
No sadness over poor Preston at all

 

[Ray_of_Sunshine]

Footage and photos of Varley being hysterical at the hospital in this article:

Moment teacher accused of 'murdering baby' wailed 'it's my fault'

Jamie Varley, 37, collapsed to the floor and pleaded with hospital doctors to 'kill me' after being told 13-month-old Preston Davey was not going to survive.

www.dailymail.com

Omg he’s exactly as I pictured him. What a grotesque little man

 

[PaddyDomino]

Does he look tanned too? Was he swanning around in the community between 2023 and 2025! Bloody hope not

I think they were!
I think they were remanded in custody in June 2025, so after these interviews.
I just watched that interview footage and, omg, the arrogance, contempt and disdain he shows!
He's looking at the photos and footage of poor little Preston with the attitude of why are you showing me all these photos of some random baby with bruises, like as if the baby has no connection to him at all, and not a baby he was trying to adopt and that was in his "care" for months!
He looks annoyed and bored and he even yawns at one point
Victim blames by saying how clumsy Preston was
I also noticed that he calls him Preston now and not Elijah - is that a form of saying, well he's nowt to do with me anymore?
God, how did this nasty piece of work manage to fool so many people?!

 

[karmadrama]

I very much doubt a case like this will be open to the public.

Yeah you’re probably right. I feel I should clarify that I didn’t mean I’d love to go and watch it as though this is all just some juicy gossip. What I meant was, I find the criminal justice system fascinating and when I’m invested in cases like this one, I’d love to actually see the perpetrators being brought to justice. I feel my post may have been worded really insensitively and that’s the last thing I want.
Just felt I had to clear that up

 

[Nelly's mum]

How DO you go from normal gay guy to prolific abuser of a baby in so little time unless you had those proclivities already there.
I believe that proof will come out that they had these fantasies for a long time.

But, my question is, if he was such a shit actor at the hospital where it was transparent he was faking, how was it he fooled those during the adoption process?

I think JV's overdramatic performance at the hospital is interesting and a big giveaway - genuine shock and grief doesn't look like this, but he doesn't have those real emotions, he's under extreme pressure and he is acting how he thinks those emotions would feel. Compare JV's reactions to JMF - JMF is more believable and it looks genuine.

During the adoption process, there is no panic, it is meetings and questions. JV is familiar with meetings with professionals and he knows all about safeguarding - so this is a comfortable environment for him, he knows how to behave and there's no pressure.

 

[Tofino]

His responses in the police interview remind me of Savannah Brockhill. Arrogant twat who thinks he’s smart but really isn’t. I expect he may give evidence as he is the type to think he can win over a jury.

 

[maytoseptember]

Is it safe to assume that previous episodes of breathing difficulty are likely to have been due to sexual abuse, and as Preston had recovered in the past, Varley assumed he was going to recover from this one? Except he went into respiratory arrest and then cardiac arrest?

 

[scantysandwich]

Preston was with them for 4 months.

I had a look back through 4 months of photos on my phone to get a sense of the time period and it’s desperately short, it’s nothing, and yet for Preston it must have been hell on earth. The fact he could still show joy bouncing on JV’s mum’s knee the day of his alleged murder breaks my heart.

 

[Square Peg]

Taking the physical and sexual abuse out of it they were totally unsuitable to parent poor little Preston. Preston couldn’t sleep long due to his acid reflux, it must have been agony for him every time he was laid down, no bloody wonder he hardly slept and screamed a lot. You can’t leave someone with acid reflux laying down. the foster parents lovingly picked him up and soothed him, exactly what he needed to relieve the burning. The men never gave him a loving and caring home, my heart bleeds for him, and I can’t bear to think about the physical abuse, the emotional abuse is traumatic enough. RIP little man, you deserved so much more

 

[2ofeach]

Given the regularity of bruises I'm giving JVs mum the side eye too..... as a more mature woman I expected more of her & when she looks back on those dreadful 4 months she must have had concerns & did absolutely nothing! I hope it haunts her.

 

[Ray_of_Sunshine]

The audacity of him sending an article about post-adoption depression!? Have you heard anything like it. How can that be a thing for him! Bear in mind he only took that baby for 4 months before he killed him. So far he comes across as a whiney, self-absorbed arsehole and that’s before we get into the abuse and murder.

 

[Emsie]

I've just caught up with this thread. Been following the case since it went to trial as I'm a parent by adoption and this has rocked the adoption community. I just wanted to clear up a few misinterpretations on Preston's adoption.
He was removed from his birth mothers care because he was at risk of harm. That's usually drugs / alcohol whilst pregnant. Foster care is temporary and on the basis that she was having contact with Preston there was clearly some hope of returning him. Obviously that didn't happen and the plan for adoption continued. His birth mother had opportunities and support to change and chose not to for whatever reasons.
These two monsters were not "rushed" through because they are gay. Family finding is tough and the needs of the child are paramount. They match parents to children, not children to parents. It's split into two stages and I believe the monsters took a break between stage 1 and 2 so absolutely not rushed at all.
You are allowed to change children's names. Social services don't like it but they can't stop you. Sometimes it's advised in high risk situations. Mine changed my son's name and I'm not a red flag.
Once the child is placed you can't apply for the adoption order for 10 weeks and you need social worker support. It's really common for children not to "settle". Of course, it's all new. I imagine that they were discouraged from applying for the order until Preston showed signs of attachment and settling in. It's honestly ridiculous that they expect this to happen in 10 weeks.
The adoption process is intrusive and hard. But I don't blame at social services door. These two have manipulated and abused the system for their disgusting gain. Overworked, underfunded social services shouldn't take the blame.