The Tragic Life Of Preston Davey: A “Sinister Tragedy”

The Trial

The Crime Desk

True Crime

4.2 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode Caroline and Liz have the start of a brand new trial and a new series. The tragic death of a baby boy called Preston Davey is at the centre of this trial. Did the two men who adopted him abuse him? And did one of those men murder him? Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley deny harming Preston and in this opening episode we have the details of what they’ve been accused of.

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Presenter: Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull

Actor: Ollie Sykes

Editor: Chelsey Ranore

Producer: Chelsey Ranore

Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the trial UK, the tragic life of Preston Davy. I'm Caroline Cheatham.
0:12.0	And I'm Liz Hall. A new trial and a new series. And once again, we must give a warning that some of the content we're going to bring you today related to this case is distressing. Yeah, this is the tragic story of a baby boy who was put
0:26.7	into foster care and then adopted by two men in Blackpool. They're now on trial. Both are
0:32.3	accused of abuse and cruelty. One of them is accused of murder. Today, we've got some of the details of what's
0:38.6	being alleged and we need to say that Liz and I debated long and hard about covering this case
0:45.0	because the details we're going to be hearing and seeing during this trial are horrific.
0:51.9	But as with every case, we cover on the podcast, we make a decision and we
0:56.3	decide it's important. It's important that you hear the details of what is being alleged and what
1:03.3	is being denied. So we're going to cover it for you, but as sensitively as we can. Yeah, and what exactly
1:10.8	is being alleged is that this little baby boy was abused and murdered
1:15.7	when he was in the care of the two men who adopted him.
1:20.1	The case against Jamie Varley and John McGowan for Zachley is that they subjected Preston Davy
1:26.0	to unspeakable abuse and cruelty, and ultimately,
1:30.6	Jamie Varley, who's a high school teacher, allegedly murdered him.
1:35.2	And as the jury were sworn in late yesterday, they were told to steal themselves for what they're
1:40.9	going to see and hear. But they were also reminded that their involvement in this
1:45.9	trial is a key part of their duty. Welcome to episode one, a sinister tragedy. We'll be back in a
1:54.4	second. So welcome back. It's Tuesday, April the 21st, and Liz and I are recording first thing in the morning.
2:21.5	And before we start, just a quick word on the trial of Chris Tribus, which we know many of you are following.
2:28.7	So an update on that before we get into this new case.
2:32.2	So the jury are still deliberating on their decision in that case.
2:35.8	They've now been considering their verdict for five days. Nick is still in Winchester.
	...

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