Tragic Preston Davey was born to a assassin mum and killed by a sick paedophile
Preston Davey was born to a mother who was jailed for murder as a teenager – she had contact with her son before he was killed by his adoptive parents Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley
Preston Davey’s mother was jailed for murder as a teen
Born to a murderer and tragically killed by a paedophile, the life of little Preston Davey was both brief and cruel.
He was removed from his mother Sarah Davey when he was just five days old by an emergency care order issued by Oldham Council and placed into foster care. Here he remained and flourished until he was adopted by Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley.
Preston’s mother had been in and out of prison after receiving a mandatory life sentence for murder in July 1999. Ms Davey maintained some contact with her son and did register his birth. On Preston’s birth certificate, Ms Davey lists her hometown as Oldham and her profession as a hairdresser.
The address she provided is the mother and baby unit at women’s prison, HMP Styal. No details are given for the father.
Just 14 years old at the time of the crime, she was sentenced to serve a minimum of eight years and one day for the gruesome murder of lonely widow, Lily Lilley, 71, in Failsworth, Oldham in September 1998.
Davey, along with a 15-year-old friend, Lisa Healey, struck up a friendship with the frail pensioner, a grandmother of three, at local shops.
They were invited into her home for a cup of tea, where they then brutally tortured Lily by squirting shampoo in her eyes, cutting her with a knife and tying a gag so tightly around her mouth that her dentures were forced down her throat, choking her to death.
They then stuffed her lifeless body into a bin and, laughing and giggling, paraded it through the streets before discarding it in the Rochdale Canal.
Following the murder, they made hundreds of calls from her phone, used her pension money to purchase crisps and chocolate, and vandalised her home.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Sachs, characterised the crime as “unspeakably wicked”. According to the Parole Board, Ms Davey has been released and returned to prison on three separate occasions.
Most recently, she was released in August 2021 but was recalled to custody on November 2, 2021, due to an unspecified violation of her release conditions. It was during this time that she fell pregnant with Preston.
Ms Davey, now 42 years old, has attended parts of the trial of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.
Her current release terms from custody, her licence conditions, include good behaviour, disclosure of relationships, and enhanced drug monitoring.
Jamie Varley, 37, was found guilty at Preston Crown Court of murder, child cruelty, sexual offences and indecent images relating to 13-month-old Preston Davey. John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was also found guilty of allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and sexual assault. Varley was reportedly sick in the dock as the verdict was read out.
The duo will receive their sentences at a later date at Preston Crown Court.
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