26,000 sign Preston’s Law petition after baby Preston’s death

The Change.org campaign follows the tragic death of 13-month-old Preston Davey in July 2023 at the hands of teacher and adoptive dad Jamie Varley, 37, who was given a whole life order for sexually abusing and murdering the tot.

Varley’s partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was sentenced to 25 years at Preston Crown Court, convicted of sexual assault, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child.

The appeal, known as “Preston’s Law”, currently has more than 26,100 signatures and aims for new mandatory child protection measures known as the “Preston Trigger”.

The “Preston Trigger” would mean that if two independent safeguarding concerns are raised about an adopted child, an urgent safeguarding review must be automatically triggered.

“Preston’s Law” more broadly calls for mandatory, structured safeguarding follow-ups for all adopted children, monthly for the first six months and then regularly for a minimum of two years.

Dawn Gibson, 32, a residential childcare worker who started the petition after working with vulnerable adults for 14 years, says she had “broken down in tears” after reading the “gut-wrenching” details of the case.

Dawn Gibson started a petition to improve safeguarding for adopted children (Image: Dawn Gibson / SWNS)

Baby Preston was placed with foster parents at just five-days-old, but when he was nine months he was moved to live with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, from Grimsargh in Lancashire, who were approved for adoption in April 2023.

During his four months with them he was ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted. His injuries included bruising to his mouth, throat, bowel and bladder along with a healing fracture to his left arm which was deemed to be non-accidental.

Dawn says: “These places [care systems] don’t have enough resources. They don’t have enough staff, they don’t have good enough pay.

“It can’t continue on the way it’s happening, because it will happen again, and that’s what’s frustrating about it.”

Preston Davey (Image: Lancashire Constabulary / SWNS)

The mum-of-two from Stirling, Scotland, adds: “We’ve been in these situations before. It’s so frustrating that we’re hearing about this again and quite frankly, it’s absolutely heart-breaking.

“I have literally broken down in tears thinking about him, I wake up thinking about him.

“I’m sick of it. I want to do something to make a change.”

Preston had been in the sole care of Varley the day he died, until McGowan-Fazakerley returned from work and the couple took the 13-month old to hospital.

Varley told police baby Preston had accidentally drowned and died in a bath, but a post-mortem examination revealed he had 40 injuries and his airways had been obstructed.

Dawn says she started the petition not only because of the impact Preston’s case had on her personally and her work as a carer, but also because she “experienced significant instability” within her own family as a child.

Dawn hopes the petition will have a “massive impact” and that “it would eventually open doorways for better safeguarding for all children”.

The carer says her petition, which was created on June 16, had received 10,000 signatures within two days of it being live.

She adds it is “definitely bittersweet” that the petition has received so much traction.

Read more:

Grandmother of baby murdered by adopted parents ‘wanted to keep him’

Adoptive parent found guilty of murdering 13-month-old baby Preston Davey

Dawn said: “As much as it’s amazing that the petition’s getting all these signatures and things – the petition shouldn’t even have to be a thing.

“I’m so thankful that people are signing it and we’re all coming together, but reading all the comments and seeing everybody talking about how it’s affected them, it’s so sad.

“I think we live in a time where a lot of us don’t talk to each other, we don’t talk about things, we’re quite keen to turn a blind eye, especially with the horrors that go on.

“We turn a blind eye because it’s to protect our own mental health and our own sanity but I think there’s got to come a point where we all just go, no, enough is definitely enough.”

Visit change.org and search ‘Preston’s Law’