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The Trial

The Trial

By: The Crime Desk
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The Trial goes behind the headlines of some of the biggest trials in the world. We take you into the courtroom, bringing you the detail as the evidence unfolds, examining key moments and carrying out exclusive interviews with detectives, victims, and experts.


For ad-free listening to The Trial, exclusive bonus episodes every week, and complete access to previous series of the show, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit www.thecrimedesk.com to become a member.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Crime Desk
True Crime
Episodes
  • The Tragic Life Of Preston Davey: Getting Behind the Trial
    Jun 23 2026

    In this special episode Caroline and Liz get behind the trial of Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley. We’ve got an insight into the police investigation and the questions which now need to be asked and answered. We also gain an insight into the mind of a man like Jamie Varley from expert Criminologist and former Prison Governor, Professor David Wilson. And we have the emotional words of Preston’s birth mum, Sarah, who says her son was failed by the very people trusted to take care of him.


    The Trial UK is part of the Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, full access to all our shows, early access to new shows, and bonus episodes. Visit https://plus.thecrimedesk.com/the-crime-desk-preston-davey for more information.


    Follow us on Tiktok @DailyMailCrime


    Follow us on instagram @TheTrialPod


    Subscribe to our YouTube channel @TheCrimeDesk


    Click here to sign up to The Crime Desk's weekly newsletter. It's free and packed with exclusive interviews, expert insight, and gripping deep dive investigations from across the world.


    Email us thetrial@dailymail.com


    Whatsapp us +447796657512 (start your message with ‘Trial’)


    Presenters: Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull

    Producer: Chelsey Moore

    Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini


    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    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 deep dive investigations from across the world.


    A Daily Mail production.

    Seriously Popular.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • The Tragic Life of Preston Davey: The Day of Reckoning
    Jun 18 2026

    A teacher, a head of year, a safeguarding lead will never be released from prison. A judge today decided Jamie Varley’s crimes against Preston Davey were so sinister, so depraved, so relentlessly evil that he should never be free.


    In this episode, Caroline and Liz have all the details from an emotional day in court, including the words of Preston’s foster carers Sandra and Paul Cooper and his mum Sarah Davey. But as Jamie Varley and John McGowan Fazakerley were told about the devastation caused by their crimes they did not flinch.


    The Trial UK is part of the Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, full access to all our shows, early access to new shows, and bonus episodes. Visit https://plus.thecrimedesk.com/the-crime-desk-preston-davey for more information.


    Follow us on Tiktok @DailyMailCrime


    Follow us on instagram @TheTrialPod


    Subscribe to our YouTube channel @TheCrimeDesk


    Click here to sign up to The Crime Desk's weekly newsletter. It's free and packed with exclusive interviews, expert insight, and gripping deep dive investigations from across the world.


    Email us thetrial@dailymail.com


    Whatsapp us +447796657512 (start your message with ‘Trial’)


    Presenters: Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull

    Producer: Sam Morris

    Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini


    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    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 deep dive investigations from across the world.


    A Daily Mail production.

    Seriously Popular.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • The Tragic Life of Preston Davey: The Verdicts
    Jun 15 2026

    Preston Davey was the victim of two sinister and wicked men, who “chose” him from an adoption website - then they both abused him and one of them murdered him. That’s what a jury have now decided. Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerly denied to the bitter end that they mistreated him, but the jury didn’t believe them. Today Caroline and Liz have got those verdicts in full and what happened as they were delivered - plus we can now bring you many of the details we haven’t been able to share up to now.

    Trigger warning - the details in this episode are distressing and relate to child abuse.


    The Trial is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information.

    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 deep dive investigations from across the world.


    A Daily Mail production.

    Seriously Popular.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
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All stars
Most relevant
Highly recommend. The podcast shares lots of detail in an unbiased and sensitive way.

Gripping and professionally produced

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Great pod cast, very well executed, informative, real truthful points made and produced well. But.....the two hosts are always interrupting guests, and each other. Let the guest speak and finish their sentace, rather than talking over them with another question while they are still explaining the current question. You both talk over each other also, and it's slightly annoying. wait, take a breath, let the other perolson finish, then ask another question. It's not difficult.

interruptions

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Some of the voice actors are quite corny and very amateur, but the overall presentation is good. The trial proceedings are explained clearly and respectfully. I wish they would explore the psychology behind Letby more, but maybe that is for a future episode.

Interesting listen

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Amazing content. Extremely well presented. Really enjoy your podcast each podcast is detailed and covers factual information .

Attention to Detail

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A gripping listen and very well put together. However, presenters and actors (all apart from guest speakers) are monotone / flat and a little painful to listen to.
But totally appreciate this is not a performance but delivery of a sensitive topic and cannot be sensationalised.

Excellent podcast.

Well Presented.

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