The Tragic Life Of Preston Davey: Preston’s “brilliant life”

The Tragic Life Of Preston Davey: Preston’s “brilliant life”

From The Trial by The Crime Desk

May 29, 2026 · 38 min · Season 17 · Episode 11

About this episode

The episode features the cross-examination of Jamie Varley regarding his relationship with Preston Davey and the circumstances of his death.

In this episode Caroline and Liz have the cross-examination of Jamie Varley. He denies the prosecution’s claims that he abused Preston to punish him because he was struggling with being his main carer and resented his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, for working or being away. He also denies making up a ‘cock and bull story’ about how Preston died to cover his tracks. Instead he tells the jury that, although he made mistakes and was sometimes a little rough with Preston, he loved him and he had a brilliant life. He says he did not cause Preston’s bruises, or sexually abuse or murder him. Subscribe via thecrimedesk.com Follow us on TikTok @DailyMailCrime Email us thetrial@dailymail.com WhatsApp us +447796657512 (start your message with ‘Trial’) Presenter: Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull Actors: Benny Fiddimore Editor: Chelsey Ranore Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini   The Trial series uses actors and some voices generated by AI. Their words are taken as verbatim from the official court transcript. Click here to sign up to The Crime Desk's weekly newsletter . It's free and packed with exclusive interviews, expert insight, and gripping…

People in this episode

Hosts: Caroline Cheetham, Liz Hull

Guest: Jamie Varley

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Organizations: The Crime Desk, Daily Mail

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