Preston Davey Trial

[codered]

1000%. I’ve got 2 boys who are constantly play fighting, playing football, getting knocks and bruises etc and often have a bruise or two. My Mum always asks them what they’ve done. So the fact a non-walking baby had multiple bruises (at the same time) and over such a short time period, you would hope she questioned it! Especially the ones to his face.

Poor baby

I suspect most people in JVs life walked on egg shells around him. The drama, the victimhood, constant chaos etc. So many people were given a decent hint that things weren’t what they seemed - his mum, colleagues, even social workers. Not that this in anyway excuses that these people close to him chose to turn a blind eye to inconsistencies in Preston’s life with them.

 

[JarvisCockerSpaniel]

Yes, at the hospital at some point he presumably realised that if he’d said he’d tried CPR at home, they’d be able to prove or disprove this very easily because of saliva and DNA in Preston’s mouth. Cue the dramatic rush through the corridors to find Preston who had already been pronounced dead, to start a futile attempt after all the doctor’s efforts had sadly failed, to give mouth to mouth. That is incredibly calculated and I hope it’s a point that gets brought up in cross examination.

 

[Kebab girl]

I can only think they are pleading not guilty because they are getting off on hearing all the details in public.

Stick them in the main wing of the prison, none of this vulnerable prison/nonce protection.

 

[stickytoffeepud]

I have a physical disability which means I have very little use of my left arm and hand. When my son was around 6 months old he rolled off the middle of my bed in the split second I had my back turned. Until that point I wasn’t aware he could roll!

We took him to hospital, he was fine but I was asked over and over again what happened. Health visitor appointments were increased and I had a social worker visit me at home. I had PND at the time and was terrified my son would be removed from my care and I did feel judged. I felt like I was being seen as an unfit parent due to being disabled.

it was my mother in law saying ‘they’re just making sure he’s safe’ that pulled me out of that mindset. I wish so much they’d applied the same level of caution to Preston

 

[TheMiceInTheShed]

I also can’t wrap my head around the almost immediate moans about typical baby behaviours. Calling him annoying, a whingebag etc. He was a tiny baby whose wee world was turned completely upside down and then isn’t complying with what they envisioned parenthood to be. As a teacher, nevermind an adoptive parent, he should be trauma informed and have had some idea that it would take time for Preston to settle into his new life.

It also angers me that they did not call him by his given name. It again highlights thinking of this tiny wee human as an accessory who will slot into their lives

It also angers me that they did not call him by his given name.

This struck me, too.

It was the only thing his addict mother could give him, and they took it from him to cut off any link with her. I think it said upthread that Elijah was Preston's middle name - presumably it fitted more with their image and they could claim they hadn't changed his name.

His grandmother wanted to take custody of him, I understand, but was diagnosed with cancer (heartbreaking on so many levels). II don't know what her prognosis was as regards life expectancy, but if she is still alive she must be broken beyond belief.

 

[maytoseptember]

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.

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.

 

[YellowTail]

Jesus wept. What would these teachers have done if a parent had told each of them a different story about how their child broke an arm? Do you think they would have raised a safeguarding concern? All their training would have told them to do so. Yet here they all were, feeling more worried about their colleague than a vulnerable, defenceless baby. They actually asked for their friend Jamie to have a welfare check I hope none of them can sleep at night.

It is terrifying that his professional colleagues, who obviously discussed Preston’s injury amongst themselves to have realised that he told each of them a different story, didn’t individually and jointly raise a self guarding concern. Surely when they each realised that they’d heard a different reason, they talked about it being concerning/worrying/weird/potentially a lie?

Did one of them speak to the head and ask them to check on JV’s welfare, or was that the course of action the head took?

It is unfathomable that the outcome was a welfare check on JV. I am concerned that there are pupils at that school who may have been harmed/at risk of harm from their caregivers, for whom help hasn’t been sought.

What did JV say to the head during the welfare check? Did he lie, or did he repeat his dark thoughts, and the head listened, reassured and then left, check over, no further action?

Preston hadn’t been adopted by the pedals, he was STILL a supposedly looked after child. Who was actually looking out for him!

 

[YellowTail]

JV and JMF made it really difficult for the foster parents to meet up with Preston and the last ever meeting they had with him, JV and JMF insisted it be at half six in the morning and poor Preston seemed blank and they were very worried afterwards

'I felt like they were hiding him from me' - Foster mum tells court about adoption

Visibly upset and crying on the stand, Sandra Cooper, who has fostered children for 27 years and for whom 13-month-old baby Preston Davey was her 43rd foster child described the tot as being an engaging, happy and content baby.

www.lep.co.uk

View attachment 3985901

I’ve not seen this before. This is terrible. Surely the social worker would have wondered (at least) if it was in Preston’s best interests to be visited at 6.30 am, not to mention the other looked after children’s interests. The 6.30 am appointment time imposed on the foster parents should have raised alarm bells. Even if Preston was an early riser, surely his morning wake up routine wouldn’t have been completed by that time? Surely, if he was up early enough to have completed his wake up routine, he’d have needed a nap around 8 am. The foster family could have come after that when he was refreshed and could enjoy the visit. How awful for the other vulnerable children, whose sleep needs were disregarded. I’m not pointing fingers at the foster parents here, I realise JV and JMF were calling the shots here and the foster parents had two choice - see him at that time, or they wouldn’t see him at all. How were they allowed to control everyone with what THEY wanted?

 

[Kebab girl]

And then you’ve got people like that Adam frisby starting a petition to scrap the laws around surrogacy. ME ME ME, no thought for the child at all.

 

[ScottishMammy92]

Saw some of the updates today. My son is only 16 weeks old and I absolutely sobbed reading them and had to stop.

That poor little baby. He deserved a loving home and family and the system failed him terribly. His poor foster mother. She had him from weeks old and even though she knew it wouldnt be permanent the bond that forms on those quiet night feeds is for life. I cannot imagine how broken she must feel knowing she tried to raise alarms and was ignored. That said I dont believe anyone could have imagined the true horrors they subjected him to.

I cant follow the day to day updates anymore its just too heartbreaking. But I really hope they throw everything at both of them. Some people dont deserve the air they breathe.

Sweet boy I cant stop thinking about him every time I look at my baby. Its just absolutely heartbreaking 🤍

 

[Jayneh2020]

Social services ought to be ashamed of themselves like seriously this guy looks like he couldn't even look after a gold fish let alone a toddler... sick cant get over this! Pathetic excuse of a human being and the nurse saying i will go get your mummy WHAT!! A grown ass man doing the things hes done to this defenseless child and hes crying for his mummy i would of smacked him all over that hospital if he was my son!

 

[Lynn’ssnazzycardigan]

You can't "spoil" small baby - and you can't "spoil" a child who is frightened in unfamiliar surroundings with unfamiliar people - all you can do is pour love and attention onto them until they know they are safe and then they will settle.

Very young children don't cry to try to manipulate people or to get their own way - they cry because they are experiencing some form of distress, and it is the parent/ carer's task to find out what it is and put it right.

I hope they get life, and that every day they spend in jail is a day of terror and pain.

Exactly! Trauma informed therapy hammers this home, are adoptive parents still not taught this? My friend adopted her children many years ago and for a long time was told her daughter had ADHD. She did her absolute best with that in mind but still problems and she looked into attachment disorders and that’s what it was. Years spent undoing the damage caused by the crap support they received. I don’t think these filth viewed Preston with any humanity nor had they prepared themselves- they just wanted to be seen as this great couple having a baby and then their nefarious reasons for adopting him as well. His sister being a sleep trainer, babies aren’t dogs to be trained, if they cry they need something even if it’s just to have someone to cry to. There was two of them in that house, they could have followed what they were told by the foster carers and done shifts to settle him. But we can’t even comment on what normal adoptive parents would face because these weren’t looking for a child to love.

 

[MaineCoonMama]

I’m sure Sarah is his birth mum, looking on Facebook she also has a daughter who is older and she is still with the family, there are also posts from a man mentioning Preston being his baby boy and Sarah’s mum Debbie has also commented on it so this could potentially be his father? Not sure if I can post screenshots with names

Edited to add I think Preston’s father is also her daughters father too

I'd probably avoid posting names and photos of Preston's parents, they have nothing to do with what's happened to him. I wouldn't like my name or photo appearing in a gossip forum if I were in their situation.
I get that people are curious but they deserve what privacy they can get at this point.

 

[Shinythings]

This case upsets me so much more than the Letby one. Awful as that was and being multiple babies but I think it's this one because Preston was old enough to know fear and that something was wrong. The babies in Letbys case were in the nicest way, so young and small they wouldn't have a had a clue what was going on and the abuse (horrific as it was) wasn't sustained. That's not to diminish what she did in any way, obviously. She's a monster. He would have known he was in danger, he would have felt scared, he would have been so confused coming from a loving family who he trusted to this.

I just can't. And yet I feel I have to follow this through to see justice done for him and all the other Preston's out there.

 

[YellowTail]

I’m not sure that it is accurate to say that because they are gay they have an interest in boys. I’m a straight woman, I don’t have an interest in boys. Paedos have a sexual perversion that makes them attracted to children. Genuinely surprised I haven’t seen any social media posts on Tik Tok about JV by current and/or schoolchildren he taught.

 

[Here2BNosey]

For me I try to detach from the details and emotions too much. I find the psychological aspect interesting. How people act when their lying, the tell tale signs and leaks they give away.

Overarching that is the bigger safeguarding picture. How many time do we have to hear, "multi agency approach", "joined up working" and all the other rubbish until professionals actually start speaking to each other and sharing information.

Some nurses at the hospital raised safeguarding concerns of non accidental bruising. Police and safeguarding were alerted but it seems the Dr thought the parents were lovely and off they went.

The school teachers and head teacher. Did non of them think to speak to the social workers, even to see if they were receiving adequate support? Given some of his concerning statements.

The social worker comes across as non really listening to anyone except JV and his version of events.

The neighbours not reporting concerns, his mum.

The picture built up with all the information is hugely concerning way before he died. If anyone had that full picture things may have been different for Preston like so many others before.

That's why it's important, everyone needs to realise that speaking out about something that concerns you could save a child from these horrors.

So I hope these monsters never see the light of day again but I also hope for change to protect future children.

 

[teabob]

I also can’t wrap my head around the almost immediate moans about typical baby behaviours. Calling him annoying, a whingebag etc. He was a tiny baby whose wee world was turned completely upside down and then isn’t complying with what they envisioned parenthood to be. As a teacher, nevermind an adoptive parent, he should be trauma informed and have had some idea that it would take time for Preston to settle into his new life.

It also angers me that they did not call him by his given name. It again highlights thinking of this tiny wee human as an accessory who will slot into their lives

 

[Jayneh2020]

Wow wow wow I can see now what they mean about overly dramatic... how fake can you get absolutely dirty stinking rat!!!!!! He is definitely not a full shilling

 

[Itchy of Itchington]

Well there was no water in the bath when police attended the house. Apparently due to a seal which had been leaking and then glued that day.
Preston was sick multiple times and had fresh nappies on after soiling them. Will they present photos of the house showing no sick and no dirty nappies.

He qualified as a teacher in 2021. He'd been a design technician before that at the same school and did his training there presumably a SCITT arrangement. He was then head of year by the time he took paternity leave in 2023 so only qualified 2 years. Very fast to get to that level really considering he only held QTS since 2021.

 

[Tanley]

They were clearly completely unprepared for how much hard work goes into bringing up a baby. Poor little Preston had a really rough start, with a drug addicted mother and being removed at a few days old. He had a milk allergy, severe reflux and a broken sleep pattern. He was loved and cared for in his foster home for ten months, the whole of his life so far. Surely any prospective adopters would have expected him to be very unsettled when he was moved again?
But the actions of this couple went way, way beyond frustration at a lack of sleep, or inexperience of caring for a baby. They became cruel and abusive so quickly that I believe they preplanned their stomach churning treatment of Preston. They were middle class professionals who knew how to talk the talk and present themselves in a favourable light. Yet clearly they were really two monsters who enjoyed hurting a vulnerable baby