In a packed courtroom at Preston Crown Court, the air grew heavy with grief as the biological mother of Preston Davey finally addressed those who had been entrusted with her child’s care. Separated from her son just days after his birth, Sarah Davey described the unbearable pain of watching his short life end in such a tragic and preventable manner. Those listening were deeply moved when she directly pointed out that before the fatal events, the caregivers had been given complete trust by both her and the systems meant to protect vulnerable children — a trust that was “completely and unforgivably broken.”

Preston Paul Arlo Davey was born on 16 June 2022 at Wythenshawe Hospital. Sarah later recalled the moment she first held him with piercing clarity. “The second he was placed in my arms, I fell completely in love with him,” her victim impact statement declared. “He was my baby, my only son, and from that day on I never wanted to let him go. For the first seven months of his life, I was lucky enough to spend precious time with him. He had the most beautiful smile, one that could light up any room, and the bond we shared was something everyone could see.”

Those early months of contact, arranged while Preston lived with foster carers Sandra and Paul Cooper, became treasured memories. Yet they are now permanently clouded. “Those memories should have brought me comfort,” Sarah said, “but instead, they are now mixed with pain, because I know what you put him through in his final months.”

At five days old, Preston was removed under an emergency care order obtained by Oldham Council. Sarah had no choice in the decision. She tried to take comfort in the belief that he would be safe, loved and protected with his foster parents. When the time came for him to move to prospective adopters Jamie Varley, a secondary school teacher, and John McGowan-Fazakerley, she and the wider family harboured deep reservations. Sarah had voiced her opposition and a mother’s instinct that something was not right. The system pressed ahead. Preston began living with the couple in Blackpool in April 2023, when he was nine months old.

Less than four months later, on 27 July 2023, the 13-month-old was dead. Varley told hospital staff and police that the toddler had accidentally drowned after being left unattended in the bath. Medical evidence told a different and far darker story. A post-mortem examination revealed Preston had suffered around 40 traumatic injuries while in the couple’s care, including numerous external bruises, internal injuries and signs of sexual abuse. The cause of death was determined to be intentional acute upper airway obstruction.

In June 2026, after a harrowing trial, Varley was convicted of murder and sexual offences against the child. McGowan-Fazakerley was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and sexual assault. At the sentencing hearing, Sarah’s statement was read aloud by the prosecution. She sobbed in the public gallery as her words filled the courtroom.

“Preston was innocent. He was defenceless,” she said. “He relied entirely on you — the adults responsible for him — to love him, care for him, and keep him safe. Instead, you caused him suffering. You took away his chance to grow up, to go to school, to make friends, to live a full life. You took everything from him.”

She spoke of the moment she learned her son had died. “There are no words that can truly describe the moment I was told my son had died. My world ended. A part of me died with him. But what makes it even more unbearable is knowing that his death was not an accident — it was something cruel, something he did not deserve, something that should never have been allowed to happen.”

The pain, she made clear, is unrelenting. “Every single day, I live with the unimaginable pain of wondering what he went through. Those thoughts do not leave me. They are with me when I wake up, and they haunt me when I try to sleep. The reality of how he suffered is something I will carry for the rest of my life. I will never forgive you for what you did to my son and what you stopped him from becoming and achieving in his life.”

Sarah also addressed the wider devastation. Preston’s older sister is growing up without her little brother. Everyday moments that should bring joy are now laced with absence and sorrow. “You have not only taken Preston’s life — you have devastated mine and his sister’s,” she said. Looking ahead to what should have been, she added: “Preston should be here today. He would be four years old. He should be getting ready to start school, learning, laughing, and living his life. Instead, he is forever thirteen months old. I am left trying to live a life that no longer makes sense. I carry grief, guilt, and heartbreak every single day. I try to be strong for my daughter, but part of me is broken forever. This is not something I will ever recover from.”

The courtroom heard how the foster carers who had looked after Preston for the first nine months of his life also carried lasting trauma. They had watched a happy, smiley child thrive under their care, only to learn of the horrors that followed once he left them. The trust they, Sarah, and the authorities placed in the prospective adopters had been shattered in the most catastrophic way.

Beyond the personal anguish, the case has raised serious questions about safeguarding failures. Preston was taken to hospital on multiple occasions before his death, with bruising noted. Concerns about the adoptive placement and monitoring have prompted calls for a thorough independent inquiry. Sarah and Preston’s biological father, Gary Nolan, have publicly supported efforts to ensure lessons are learned so that no other child suffers the same fate. A petition demanding a national investigation has drawn widespread support, including from public figures.

In the weeks and months since the sentencing, Sarah has spoken of the quiet rituals she maintains to honour her son. Every year on his birthday she releases balloons. She holds the limited time she spent with him close, even as those memories remain intertwined with the knowledge of his final suffering. The family organised a christening after his death — a ceremony she had always hoped would take place in life.

The tragedy of Preston Davey is one of profound institutional and personal failure. A vulnerable baby, removed from his mother in the hope of safety, was instead delivered into the hands of those who would abuse and ultimately kill him. Sarah Davey’s statement stands as both a raw expression of maternal grief and a stark indictment of the systems that failed to protect him.

“Preston should be here today,” she said. Instead, a little boy with a smile that could light up any room remains forever 13 months old. His mother, and all who loved him, must live with that irreversible loss every single day. The public, too, is left with the uncomfortable knowledge that a child in the care of the state was not kept safe — and with the urgent question of how such a failure can ever be prevented from happening again.