Baby Preston Davey - Content warning concerns CSA (added by MNHQ)

[Sadmamma35]

I’ve just read about baby Preston Davey and I cannot stop thinking about him. I have a 13-month-old of my own, which is probably why this has hit me so hard — I can really relate and my baby is my everything.
I’m crying as I write this. Why does it hurt so much for a baby I’ve never even met? Has anyone else felt this way?
How do you cope with the negative thoughts that follow when you read something like this? 💙

It depends on the circumstances for me. I'd feel sorry for someone who killed their abuser for example. Not so much the killers of Mrs Lilley who invited them in for a cup of tea and was tortured to death. https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2026-06-15/mother-of-baby-murdered-by-teacher-was-jailed-for-murdering-pensioner

See the reason I don’t like it is that it smacks of ‘she deserved it.’ And before anyone starts insisting that no no they didn’t mean that, then what do you mean? What other relevance does it have to the case?

No one thinks she deserved it. You've made a leap there.

So do share with me the relevance of who she is, then.

I don't think it's necessary to know who his mum was. It's about him not her.

This is one of the worst things I've ever heard happen to a child and I'm really struggling - I couldn't sleep last night thinking about this poor baby. I hope those monsters get what they deserve in the sentencing tomorrow. If I'm feeling traumatised by what I've heard in the press, I cannot begin to imagine how the jury must feel and I hope they get the appropriate counselling to help them through it.

I cannot understand how children can be in the system and be so repeatedly failed. Where is the curiosity? People seem so willing to take things on face value all the time.

I'm sure it's really hard being a social worker and they are really up against it but there really needs to be more tenacity, curiosity and more money put into social services to make it better and protect children. This was never meant to happen again after Victoria Climbie and that was about 20 years ago. There have been loads of failed children since then.

I was a single parent to my son who is now a wonderful strapping teenager. I remember thinking when he was a baby who would check that he is being looked after? I took him to the clinic to be weighed and to see the health visitor, but I didn't have to do that. I took him to the doctors for his jabs but I didnt have to do that. Would anyone have checked if I hadn't taken him to these appointments? I suspect not.

Children are so vulnerable, we are not protecting them and it utterly heartbreaking.

It's quite simple. (Or it is to most people.) You feel sorry for the birth mum. Others are responding to that that they do not feel pity for a torturer.

I am fairly neutral about Preston’s birth mother, as it happens. I can see she committed an awful, appalling crime. I can also see she was extremely young when she did so and other children have certainly done equally terrible acts and gone on to not offend again.

Obviously that is not the case here, but that’s by the by. She isn’t on trial; she is a victim in this case as much as anybody else. Certainly at the very least I think she is deserving of respect if not compassion.

If the mother had remained anonymous,(very difficult as the crime she committed tends to be reported on, like it or not,) we would be getting tons of people online saying that it's disgraceful that social services stole Preston from his loving mother.

I've seen people say they do it for money and have quotas of babies to take. Nope, they remove babies for very good reason and there are many children who stay with their bio parents and lead sad lives of abuse and neglect. One child is killed per week.

We see MNetters boasting of how they love anal sex and giving blow jobs, which seem to be a big feature of porn.

• I agree with most of this..I don't think women giving blow jobs is in the same category as anal sex though. Anal sex is potentially dangerous and very few women enjoy it. Blowjobs I don't think are in that category :

Generally people on here don't seem that positive about anal sex : can I ask which boards you've seen people boasting about anal sex on? It's possible some may have been trolls.

Oh just the odd random post on relationship boards but as you say could be trolls. Hope they are, as I worry about women being coerced. Some posters are surprisingly frank though! 😳

But throughout the trial she wasn’t identified although I did think it odd that Preston was known by his birth name particularly when ‘Davey’ isn’t the most common surname. It wouldn’t have taken Sherlock Holmes to work out who he was. If you search online people had worked it out whilst the trial was ongoing.

Peter Connolly was initially known as ‘Baby P’ and known as such throughout the trial so not sure why this wasn’t the case here. In many ways I would have thought it more pressing not to give his full name in view of the mother’s identity. I actually think she’s been identified because her mother has been very vocal about what happened so it was a joint choice. She may even think being identified may mean people feel sympathy for her and forget the horrific crime she carried out. I am sure if she didn’t want to be identified reporting restrictions could have been applied for to prevent her identity being made public so I don’t think the press have decided to randomly identify her. I think it’s her own doing.

I guess the point is that’s her choice, though. And baby P was a bit different: his mother committed or was at least complicit in the crimes against him

I suppose I just feel that they are two separate crimes and two separate people and in this instance she has done nothing wrong other than to have a baby; she will already have suffered having the child removed from her and tben this

OMG, I feel exactly the same. I never managed to get hold of my GP, but maybe it is a good idea. I wanted to talk to my husband about it, but he just cannot because it is too painful. My sister felt the same way, which is why I ended up turning to social media.
I have never, ever posted anything like this online before, but I just needed to let it out and share my pain.
Sending you a big hug. ❤️

I’m glad you posted this thread OP, as that poor little baby boy needs to be remembered in people’s hearts. I really can’t stop thinking about him.
I felt the same when it was Baby P, I’d just had a baby at the time and I remember crying when the news was on about it wondering where on Earth does this evil come from and how much he had suffered.
And you know that this will happen again, lessons unfortunately won’t be learnt.

I agree. And it's taking the attention away from what happened to Preston.

Did you see the statement from the police?

“Throughout this trial we have tried to ensure the focus remained on baby Preston Davey, a little boy who was physically, sexually and psychologically abused by two individuals who were supposed to love and care for him. While I understand the focus in the media will go elsewhere, I would ask that Preston is not forgotten in your coverage.”

I get what you are saying but if she hadn’t done what she did, and then ended up
going back in and out of prison, then the baby wouldn’t have been taken away in the first place, so I guess that’s why people are interested in it in this context.

I can't get out of my head that he can't possibly have been their first victim.

OR that the safeguarding review that will be done by Oldham Council will be a shitshow with zero accountability.

I hope the outpouring of support and horror will carry through to ensuring things DO change.

Look at this ''Chances missed' to save boy murdered by his mum'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr4wwlzd1y2o

The outcomes of the serious case reviews are very often that social workers lacked experience, there was a lack of senior leaders, high turnover of staff/agency staff, not enough time spent with children/families, things were missed.
Those are huge systemic issues to solve.

God this is truly horrific. I’m really surprised to have heard nothing about this case at all before seeing this thread. I used to work in child care (legal) so do take an interest in safeguarding and I spend a lot of time online (😬) - perhaps I’m alone in not seeing of it, but strikes me as funny how the media / algorithms push certain stories and not others isn’t it. Hmm…

They are being sentenced now, Praying for whole life order.

I know somebody has to do it but how the solicitors defend this scum of the earth……

It’s certainly difficult to reconcile the undoubted pain and loss she describes in her victim impact statement with the pain , torture and murder she inflicted on another human being. It raises questions about self awareness without detracting from the dreadful nature of this crime.

Even now he’s sitting in court with his arms and legs crossed staring in to space. Such an arrogant bastard without a hint of remorse.

Deluded prick.