UK - Preston Davey, 13 months - murdered and SA’d by prospective adoptive parents

[Dotta]

"Foster mum of murdered baby ​

tells court of 'gut feeling' ​

about accused killer adoptive dad and his boyfriend.​

A foster mother who cared for a baby boy before he was sexually abused and murdered
had a 'gut feeling' the tot was being 'hidden' from her
after he was handed over to a teacher and his boyfriend for adoption,
a court heard today.

Sandra Cooper
looked after Preston Davey for the first ten months of his life
before he was placed in the care of Jamie Varley, 37, and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.

Initially,
Mrs Cooper, an experienced foster carer who had looked after 43 children over 27 years,
had no concerns about the couple taking on Preston.

But,
within days of Preston going to live with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley permanently,
Mrs Cooper said she became 'worried’
because the couple cancelled or failed to show up
at two of three scheduled meetings.

‘I called the social worker and said,
I feel like something is wrong.
When we started to get different reasons
(for why they couldn’t attend)
I started to get worried'."

Fears for baby 'murdered by teacher adopting him with his boyfriend'

Sandra Cooper looked after Preston Davey for the first ten months of his life before he was placed in the care of Jamie Varley, 37, and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.

www.dailymail.com

PS

"Nick Johnson, KC, defending Varley"

????
NJ KC the Prosecutor in Lucy L case??

 

[Parker Knoll]

One and the same yes.

 

[Silverlink]

The 12 members of the jury are brought into court.

The judge, Mr Justice Turner, tells them he regrets to say the reason for the delay this morning is that ‘circumstances have arisen’ which make it impossible for the trial to continue with this jury.

The judge said he commended their 'attention and concentration you have exercised over the last few days’.

He stressed there was no ‘criticism of you at all’ of the jury.

“I’m afraid I have no reasonable alternative but to discharge you from this trial,” he said.

Mr Justice Turner discharged the jury and a new jury is expected to be sworn in on Monday when the trial will start again.

Preston Davey trial LIVE as jury discharged as two men accused of abusing baby

Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazackerly face a string of charges after Preston Davey's death

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

 

[VioletLilac]

If the jury haven't done anything wrong I'm wondering if any have had to be discharged due to being too distressed by it. (Completely understandable.)

 

[Silverlink]

If the jury haven't done anything wrong I'm wondering if any have had to be discharged due to being too distressed by it. (Completely understandable.)

It says in this article that the reason is 'not reportable'. Could be that some sort of conflict of interest has arisen that wasn't known before.

Preston Davey baby murder trial jury discharged by judge

Judge Mr Justice Turner discharged the jury at Preston Crown Court earlier.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[VioletLilac]

It says in this article that the reason is 'not reportable'. Could be that some sort of conflict of interest has arisen that wasn't known before.

Preston Davey baby murder trial jury discharged by judge

Judge Mr Justice Turner discharged the jury at Preston Crown Court earlier.

www.bbc.co.uk

Yes, might be

 

[joe jones]

it is only delayed, they will have another trial,

 

[Parker Knoll]

Back on Monday 27/4/26

 

[Dotta]

If the jury haven't done anything wrong I'm wondering if any have had to be discharged due to being too distressed by it. (Completely understandable.)

I wouldn't be able to be a Juror in this particular case
This is too much.

But then, there would be no chance.
I live far away.
And we only have bench trials, with few Jurors who simply give their opinions to the Judge/s.
The Judge, sometimes 2 ones, decide the verdict.

I hope the little boy will get proper Justice.
Terrible, terrible case
Words simply fail me.

 

[Dotta]

"Jury discharged ​

in trial of baby allegedly sexually abused and murdered by teacher in process of adopting him with his boyfriend.​

Today,
on the fourth day of the trial,
the six men and six women were formally discharged by the presiding judge, Mr Justice Mark Turner.

He told the jury:
'Circumstances have arisen
which make it impossible for this trial to continue.

I commend your obvious attention and concentration you’ve exercised over the last few days and you’ve performed your duty
– this isn’t any criticism of you.

I’m afraid I’m left with no reasonable alternative…
with a heavy heart I discharge you from this trial'.

The trial,
expected to last six to eight weeks,
is expected to start again with a fresh jury panel on Monday.

A post-mortem found the tot had suffered 40 internal and external injuries
– including severe bruising to the back of his throat.
A pathologist concluded he had been smothered and had died
of an ‘acute upper airway obstruction'."

Jury discharged in adopted baby murder trial

Jamie Varley, 37, and John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, were on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of sexually abusing Preston Davey, aged 13 months.

www.dailymail.com

 

[bombardier]

"Jury discharged ​

in trial of baby allegedly sexually abused and murdered by teacher in process of adopting him with his boyfriend.​

View attachment 661478

Today,
on the fourth day of the trial,
the six men and six women were formally discharged by the presiding judge, Mr Justice Mark Turner.

He told the jury:
'Circumstances have arisen
which make it impossible for this trial to continue.

I commend your obvious attention and concentration you’ve exercised over the last few days and you’ve performed your duty
– this isn’t any criticism of you.

I’m afraid I’m left with no reasonable alternative…
with a heavy heart I discharge you from this trial'.

The trial,
expected to last six to eight weeks,
is expected to start again with a fresh jury panel on Monday.

A post-mortem found the tot had suffered 40 internal and external injuries
– including severe bruising to the back of his throat.
A pathologist concluded he had been smothered and had died
of an ‘acute upper airway obstruction'."

Jury discharged in adopted baby murder trial

Jamie Varley, 37, and John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, were on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of sexually abusing Preston Davey, aged 13 months.

www.dailymail.com

does anyone have an idea what these "circumstances" could have been?

 

[joe jones]

does anyone have an idea what these "circumstances" could have been?

it's highly unlikely we will find out, English courts are noticeably tight lipped with giving out details, especially as they need to have another trial, lets hope the second one goes without a hitch

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN REMINDER

Sub judice is in effect from the time of arrest and throughout the judicial process:

Please stick to discussing the trial content without posting anything that violates the following principles:

Basically anything that may prejudice the accused’s right to a fair trial
Any suggestion, opinion, or direct accusation that the accused is either guilty OR innocent
(i.e. the accused cannot be called "the killer". Instead use "the accused", "the alleged killer", or "the defendant", opinions regarding sentencing)
A defendant’s previous history of any offences is off limits
Scandalizing the court (disparaging judges, lawyers, any officer of the Court) is off limits
Broadcasting anything about proceedings which happen in the jury's absence is off limits
Any non compliance with an Order of the court is off limits

In the event of an Appeal subsequent to verdict:

Appeals are usually heard by senior judges who are not likely to be influenced by the media, therefore responsible comment is usually considered acceptable once a trial has concluded, regardless of if there is going to be an appeal.


Reference: UK Contempt of Court Act 1981

 

[seasideForest]

This case is utterly despicable. That poor baby. Safe and free of pain now.

e if you're having "dark thoughts" about an infant you're about to adopt, instead of loving, caring thoughts, then seems to me you need to see a professional and turn the adoption down for the good of the child.

I feel very sorry for the foster mother, having looked after little Preston for 10 months. And if the birth mother recognises him, then for her too, because it must feel absolutely awful to give a child up for adoption thinking he is going to a good home, to people unable to have a child of their own, who will provide him with more than the birth mother thinks she can, only to find out what really happened...


JMO

 

[seasideForest]

does anyone have an idea what these "circumstances" could have been?

I googled it yesterday and have forgotten already like the bird-brain I am, but both under Wikipedia and official websites for English law, they listed a few reasons that might apply here, and other reasons that probably do not apply here.

 

[Dotta]

I'm surprised that Court found other prospective Jurors so quickly
as
quoting from my above DM link:

"The trial,
expected to last six to eight weeks,
is expected to start again
with a fresh jury panel on Monday."

And the Jury was discharged on Thursday
which leaves only one day - Friday.

Does it mean these people were moved from other cases?
Or were the Jurors chosen earlier
for this particular trial, but as substitutes?

I mean
it seems to me people chosen to be Jurors should be notified well in advance, no?
To organize everything, re jobs, future plans, etc.



I'm just curious.

Link for the quote once again:

Jury discharged in adopted baby murder trial

Jamie Varley, 37, and John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, were on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of sexually abusing Preston Davey, aged 13 months.

www.dailymail.com

 

[seasideForest]

@Dotta
Some of the new jurors might be substitutes. Otherwise it does seem they found new jurors very quickly. If you Google jury selection England, you'll see under what circumstances jurors can turn cases down, which includes holiday plans but iirc you then have to say when you're available in the next 12 months for a different case, and you can only turn down once for the holiday and similar reasons.

Jury duty - your duty as it says plus your privilege in the legal system of England & Wales, and other places too of course.
MOO

 

[joe jones]

I'm surprised that Court found other prospective Jurors so quickly
as
quoting from my above DM link:

"The trial,
expected to last six to eight weeks,
is expected to start again
with a fresh jury panel on Monday."

And the Jury was discharged on Thursday
which leaves only one day - Friday.

Does it mean these people were moved from other cases?
Or were the Jurors chosen earlier
for this particular trial, but as substitutes?

I mean
it seems to me people chosen to be Jurors should be notified well in advance, no?
To organize everything, re jobs, future plans, etc.



I'm just curious.

Link for the quote once again:

Jury discharged in adopted baby murder trial

Jamie Varley, 37, and John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, were on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of sexually abusing Preston Davey, aged 13 months.

www.dailymail.com

good to see that it will soon restart,

 

[Dotta]

good to see that it will soon restart,

Of course,
I'm not the one to complain!!!
Quite the opposite!

Imagine
turning down a case due to prepaid holidays or other unexpected circumstances
and now being faced with THIS one instead

But,
somebody has to do this
honouring the Victim.

JMO

 

[Lucy6226]

It is shocking to think that he turned up in hospital multiple times including with a broken elbow and the doctor/s didn't think this should be reported to social services. Surely it will have been logged on the system each time he was being brought in and they should have noticed something a bit odd about how frequently he was being brought in with new injuries? Seems like so many people who had a duty to protect Preston completely failed him.

RBBM
The irony is had he still been in foster care still and on a Child Protection Plan or Care Order then the system automatically flags any A&E visit. Once an adoption order is in place the adoptive parent are treated like any other biological parents.

(RS&B)

Initially,
Mrs Cooper, an experienced foster carer who had looked after 43 children over 27 years,
had no concerns about the couple taking on Preston.

But,
within days of Preston going to live with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley permanently,
Mrs Cooper said she became 'worried’
because the couple cancelled or failed to show up
at two of three scheduled meetings.

‘I called the social worker and said,
I feel like something is wrong.
When we started to get different reasons
(for why they couldn’t attend)
I started to get worried'."

Fears for baby 'murdered by teacher adopting him with his boyfriend'

Sandra Cooper looked after Preston Davey for the first ten months of his life before he was placed in the care of Jamie Varley, 37, and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.

www.dailymail.com

PS

"Nick Johnson, KC, defending Varley"

????
NJ KC the Prosecutor in Lucy L case??

I feel for the foster carer, she clearly felt something was wrong. However, adoptive parents don't have to keep contact with foster or biological parents, even when agreed during adoption proceedings. But usually this happens a few months to years down the line or as the child gets older.