Coronation Street star Nicola Thorp says 'we must fight for Preston Davey as we would fight for our own child'
Nicola Thorp has lent her support alongside fellow global superstar Ellie Goulding, campaigner Carrie Johnson, wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Child Cruelty Offender Register campaigner Paul Hudgell and campaigner Hetti Barkworth-Nanton.
Blackpool-born TV personality, actress and campaigner Nicola Thorp has added her voice to the Preston Davey campaign calling for a public national inquiry.
Former Coronation Street actress Nicola, whose family run Blackpool Rock factory Stanton & Novelty Confectioners founded in 1962, has signed the ‘Preston Davey deserved better, call for a national inquiry’ petition set up by The Gazette, sister title the Lancashire Post and backed by Blackpool MP Chris Webb.
The former Arnold School pupil has added her voice to more than 66,000 others demanding answers about how a little boy could so catastrophically be failed by the safeguarding procedures designed to protect him.
Preston Davey deserved better. Demand a national inquiry
Nicola has lent her support alongside fellow global superstar Ellie Goulding, campaigner Carrie Johnson, wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Child Cruelty Offender Register campaigner Paul Hudgell and campaigner Hetti Barkworth-Nanton. Hetti is widely recognised for her work in supporting victims of domestic abuse, receiving a CBE in the 2024 New Year Honours and a Pride of Britain Award in 2024.
As well as signing the petition all the prominent campaigners have shared Preston’s tragic story in a bid to encourage Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to agree to a public national inquiry into the safeguarding failures that cost a ‘happy and bubbly’ baby boy his life.
Blackpool MP Chris Webb has also raised the matter directly with No.10 and personally asked the Prime Minister to establish a public inquiry.
Nicola Thorp said: “I, like many, have been haunted by the case of Preston Davey. His fate was not inevitable - far from it. There were multiple opportunities to save him and give him the life all children deserve: one filled with safety and love.
“We should feel duty bound to ensure no child suffers as Preston did, which is why an inquiry into the circumstances leading up to his death are essential.
“The monsters who killed and abused him may be behind bars but there are many questions left unanswered by the authorities who should have protected him. We must fight for Preston as we would fight for our own child.”
Preston Davey deserved better. Demand a national inquiry
Preston Davey was just 13-months-old when he was murdered by the man who was in the process of adopting him. The man he came to know as ‘dad’.
In less than four months, little Preston was sexually assaulted, physically and emotionally abused, and left with 40 non-accidental injuries. He was taken to hospital three times. Social workers visited regularly. His abusers even admitted to having dark thoughts about him. And still, nothing stopped it.
Ex-South Shore Academy teacher Jamie Varley, 37, was given a whole life sentence for murder, child cruelty, sexual offences and indecent images relating to Preston. His now ex-partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was jailed for 25 years for allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and sexual assault.
Preston was taken into care by Oldham Council and placed for adption by regional adoption agency Adoption Now. Blackpool’s children’s services have no involvement in his safeguarding.
But the question that has to be asked - and answered - is how a baby boy in the care of the state could be so badly let down by every system designed to protect him.
Preston Davey deserved better.
The Blackpool Gazette, and the Lancashire Post, backed by Blackpool South MP Chris Webb are leading calls to the government to launch a national inquiry.
More than 66,000 people have now signed the petition calling for a public national inquiry and campaigners, charities, fellow MPs and high-profile supporters from across the country have joined those calls.
Vanessa Sims, editor of the Blackpool Gazette, said: “The magnitude of the impact little Preston’s case has had on the nation should not be underestimated.
“He has touched the hearts of so many people. I have even had messages from as far as the USA about Preston and the impact it has had on people there.
“One thing is very clear. Preston deserved better. Getting a public national inquiry will ultimately help us to protect all those children who come after Preston. This call is not about blame but about making sure lessons are learnt.
“I completely agree with Nicola, we must fight for him as though he was our own.
“If you haven’t added your voice to the petition, please do it today.”
Preston Davey’s birth parents Sarah Davey and Gary Nolan have also backed the campaign.
What is the petition calling for?
The petition is calling on a nation inquiry to answer the following questions:
- Why were repeated warning signs - three hospital admissions, an abuser's own admission of dark thoughts, routine social worker contact - not acted on?
- Should children placed outside their home authority automatically be assigned a local social worker with direct oversight of their care?
- How are repeat hospital admissions for children in care shared between the NHS, the placing authority, and the authority where the child lives?
- Are adoption vetting procedures rigorous enough to stop prospective adopters hiding behind a false front?
We need you to sign this petition and demand the government acts.