Can’t get over poor baby Preston

Men are just as equipped as women to love a child. It’s not the fact that they are gay, it’s the fact that they are utterly vile horrible people.
women can be just as vile

Abusers might not "see themselves as paedophiles" 🙄 but that's exactly what they are.

A child so young would have no idea of the world and foreign travel would be wasted on him.

Foreign travel to places far beyond the reach of British social services or police otoh would potentially pose a risk.

They were selected like anyone else - unless or until we find out differently, they went through the same rigorous processes of assessment and vetting as any potential adopter. Or do you think social workers just plucked them out at random?

🤞

Thankyou, I'm so confused now that I doubt myself. Apparently the, "Three foreign holidays" statement came from the maternal grandmother in a letter she received from the proposed adoptive people.

Can she be believed? Can they be believed? Can the media be believed? But I did find out that passports are needed for all cared for children. I didn't know that. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't.

@Runningswanker has been very helpful to me in explaining things.

Link to the Telegraph article.

archive.ph/ozmNP

For those who want to read articles behind a paywall, paste the link into archive ph or archive today. You will be able to read them for free.

No, I’m not being nuanced at all. I don’t do nuance, as you may have guessed from this thread! I’m not sure if the men took Preston away or if they had merely booked three holidays. There is a lot of hearsay on this thread and in the reporting. I have not seen anything in the evidence from court to suggest that Preston had been on these trips. I would be amazed if the men had been given permission to take Preston away three times in four months. As you quite rightly point out, it’s strongly encouraged to embrace routine in the early days of placement, stay close to home and not introduce too many additional changes.

Room for nuance here. I just was asking.

Because who would refuse a previously looked after child the opportunity to experience the world?

I see.

They're expected to provide the child with a positive family life. Holidays wouldn't be approved if they were risky (eg to an area the govt advises against travelling to) but the alternative would be banning children in care from the opportunity of going on holiday abroad. Think about how that would feel to a child growing up. Even worse if the carers had to travel and the child had to go to strangers (respite) because the carers couldn't take them (as can happen when there are issues getting a child a passport in time)

@Runningswanker Oh heck. The link isn't behind a paywall with me but I'm not in the UK. I've heard the same quote replicated across a few newspapers though. You could be right that he went on holiday with the foster family.

It’s one of the most sickening cases I have read. Nauseating to the very core.

Yes, I've worked in probation and prisons. There's a reason the media plastered their images.

Thankyou for your clarification. I can see why a passport might be valuable ID for a cared for minor but on the other hand, if it is true, why was it allowed for them to take him on any kind of trip too far away from home? (I use the term for want of a better word.)

It doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

Sentencing tomorrow. I dont think they will both be sent to the same jail. Hints that Varley will go to Wakefield. The lags are waiting and there is a buzz around the jail, so the rumours say. They may well be just rumours but I imagine that wherever they end up, it wont end well 1😉

@Redheadedstepchild your link is behind a paywall, but yes foster carers and adopters do take children on holiday including abroad. With the child being on a Care Order it would have required agreement from social services in advance. Without the link I'm not clear though if he went on multiple holidays with the adopters (as three in four months would be unusual) or if he'd gone previously with his foster carers.

Stop allowing two men to adopt babies. They are ill equipped to manage them

Just wait till people in the prisons they end up in get alone with them.
Then they’ll know the fear and pain that baby felt.
Karma indeed.

All children in care are now expected to have a passport. The adopters would have to seek permission to take Preston out of the country and to have a letter on official letter head to be able to present to passport control to explain the relationship. The adopters, until the adoption order, would share parental responsibility with the placing authority.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06/15/baby-preston-care-paedophile-tragic-circumstances/

I know that this is The Telegraph and some readers may not like this newspaper but as far as I can tell, the same quotes have been repeated across most media outlets.

This bit I want to talk about is Preston's maternal grandmother talking about a letter from these specimens to her saying that the adoptive individuals, "Had just booked for his third foreign holiday abroad."

Did they just lie about this?
How is this even possible?
You can't take a baby who isn't even finally adopted out of the country, surely?
What about a passport?
How many holidays are feasible within just short of four months?

I’m a single adopter of two. I would not be deterred if you are still interested. Your experience in your previous role, and your understanding that children who are care experienced are disproportionately represented in the mental health arena, sounds like it would stand you in good stead. I don’t mean to patronise but do you know you can ‘shop around’ for an agency to assess you? It does not have to be your regional adoption agency. I do understand what the social worker was trying to tell you as most singletons I know (and I know lots all around the country) have either had to give up work, change jobs to less demanding ones or work part-time. There can be financial assistance, depending on the complexities of the child, not anything like a foster carer allowance, though. I’m sorry that you had that negative experience.

@Isitevensummer I do hope you can find some way to use that experience and commitment to care for children, it sounds like you could really offer a lot. I'm not sure how long ago you enquired, but it might also be worth enquiring about fostering, though it would likely depend on whether your employer has a policy to support carers (eg allowing time off to attend meetings)