Teacher, 37, murdered 13-month-old boy he was in process of adopting with his boyfriend after ‘sinister’ campaign of abuse, court hears

A baby who was subjected to serious sexual assault during a “sinister” harassment campaign by a teacher who was in the process of adopting her has died, a court heard today.

Preston Davey was just 13 months old and had bruising inside his mouth when he ‘died from strangulation,’ jurors heard.

The man also had serious internal injuries, prosecutors said.

Secondary school headmaster Jamie Varley, 37, is accused of murdering Preston, who died in hospital after being attacked at the home in Blackpool, Lancashire, which he shared with his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.

Prosecutor Peter Wright KC told jurors at Preston Crown Court that Preston suffered 40 injuries, most importantly a blockage of his upper respiratory tract.

Preston had ‘linear bruises’ on his forehead consistent with a slap and bruises ‘consistent with a grasp’, as well as abrasions to his face, mouth and behind his ears, the court heard.

In what he called a ‘distressing case’, Mr Wright told the jury: ‘Someone so compromised this little boy’s ability to breathe with something that they strangled him to death.’

The prosecutor said the same day Preston was also attacked with enough force to cause ‘significant internal injuries’.

Court drawing of Jamie Varley (left) and partner John McGowan-Fazakerley (right)

The court heard Preston had previously suffered injuries that led to him being admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times, including shortness of breath, seizures, nosebleeds and an injury to his elbow that later turned out to be a broken elbow.

Mr Wright said staff ‘noticed bruising to the face’ but it was ‘sufficiently explained by the couple for it to be disregarded as having been caused deliberately’.

In reality, it is alleged that Preston, who was placed with the couple four months before they died, was ‘regularly mistreated, sexually harassed and assaulted’.

Mr Wright said there was a ‘sinister pathology’ in the abuse towards Preston, who died in Victoria Hospital on July 27, 2023.

He was brought to the hospital ‘unconscious and in a heart attack’ by the defendants at 18.30, and it was announced that he died 48 minutes later ‘despite all the efforts of the medical staff’.

Mr Wright said Varley was alone at home with Preston at the time of the last alleged attack, but the other potential adoptive parent, McGowan-Fazakerley, should have been aware of the risk of abuse and Preston should have failed to take steps that could reasonably be expected to protect Davey.

Instead of seeking immediate medical attention as Preston struggled to breathe, Varley recorded a video of ‘the child lying in bed with physical and obvious signs of respiratory arrest.’

Mr Wright said of Preston: ‘He looked like he had stopped breathing, his lips were blue.’

But the court heard Varley waited for her boyfriend to return from work in Manchester before seeking help.

The court heard Varley had previously made other explicit videos and explicit photographs of Preston, who was “regularly mistreated”.

Preston Davey died and 40 injured after being abused, jury was told

Mr Wright said one photograph was taken by Varley as a ‘memory’ of an earlier attack on the baby.

The prosecutor added that the photo collection was ‘not the usual kind of photographs taken by a loving parent’.

Meanwhile, the court heard that sales representative McGowan-Fazakerley was involved with Varley in the attack on Preston in his cot four days before his death.

Jurors were told a forensic examination of the home found McGowan-Fazakerley’s DNA nearby.

Varley allegedly took a three-second video of a naked Preston on her iPhone and sent it to her boyfriend, along with a comment about the baby’s anatomy.

Mr Wright told the court further incidents of negligence were reported, including a 14-minute video in which Preston was ‘seen wandering around the bathroom unattended’.

The court heard the baby was also shown being ‘violently’ spun around a children’s ‘teacup’ roundabout in the playground, leaving her ‘bewildered’.

Mr Wright said the incident was “one that Jamie Varley clearly found very entertaining and was later set to music” (Kylie Minogue’s Spinningaround) which was “stored and shared on his phone” by Varley.

Preston was also allegedly videotaped subjecting himself to sleep deprivation, sudden noises and loud music, including a song from the Disney movie Moana.

Mr Wright added: ‘Warning signs were there for all to indicate that, if not reported, challenged or prevented, it was increasingly likely that serious bodily harm would be caused to Preston Davey, particularly if he was left alone and in the presence of Jamie Varley.’

Former secondary school teacher Jamie Varley, 37, denied a total of 25 charges against him

The prosecutor also said McGowan-Fazakerley was “clearly aware of the risk Jamie Varley posed to Preston Davey’s physical and psychological health and the risk that his partner would inflict serious physical harm on him”; yet he did nothing to protect Preston from this’.

Mr Wright told jurors: ‘On the evidence you have heard you can conclude that Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley were in fact entirely unsuited to the role of adoptive parents.

‘Unfortunately this truth only became clear to Preston Davey when it was too late.’

Varley, wearing a gold suit and white-collared shirt, shook his head as he told the jury how he was charged with Preston’s murder or alternative charges of manslaughter.

McGowan-Fazakerley continued the day expressionlessly, wearing a light green sweater and gray trousers.

As details of Preston’s injuries were read, some people in the public hall left the room crying.

The court heard Varley “found it extremely difficult to cope with the responsibility of looking after Preston, especially on her own” and begged a colleague for antidepressants and beta blockers.

Prosecutor Mr Wright said he asked his colleague, who was using tablets at school, if he could order extra and give the tablets to him.

Mr Wright said: “He refused, advising him to see doctors” but Varley refused saying if he received a prescription for mental health problems it “could affect the adoption”.

At one point the court heard he told his partner: ‘I can’t handle John. You should take it.’

Jurors were told the couple’s neighbors also “painted a more unstable picture of life” by “crying a lot day and night”.

Varley’s partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, denied five charges against him

Mr Wright added: ‘At one stage McGowan-Fazakerley came to apologise. To neighbors, it sounded like the couple was struggling in their new roles as parents of a very young child and needed a break. Neighbors also heard loud noises between the couple.’

The court heard Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were “apparently in a stable and loving relationship” and were “anxious about adopting a child”.

They were approved as adoptive parents in January 2023, and their offer to adopt Preston, who is in good health, was approved in March.

He was handed over to the couple’s care in early April following a series of visits to see Preston, who was being cared for by foster carers.

But within weeks on May 15, the court heard, McGowan-Fazakerley called 999; The call was cut off within four seconds after a voice saying ‘leave it’ was heard.

Mr Wright said: ‘The voice in the background could only have belonged to Jamie Varley. The police called back. A man answered and said he had called 999 by mistake, calling the non-emergency number 111 instead.

‘Strangely, the caller does not appear to have called 111 afterwards.’

A 111 call was later made by McGowan-Fazakerley from Varley’s mother’s home and it was reported that Preston was having ‘breathing problems’. The court was told the person handling the call arranged for medical staff to call back but the return call went unanswered.

Mr Wright said the defendants “made no reference to the events of the previous night” when a health visitor called the next morning.

The lawyer explained that Preston was first hospitalized in late May with “complaints of nosebleeds, seizures and difficulty breathing” and that these were attributed to a chest infection.

However, Mr Wright said post-mortem tests on Preston’s lung tissue revealed potential ‘previous attacks of airway obstruction’.

The court heard he was taken to hospital once again on June 30 with an apparent fever.

Jurors were told that when bruises were also noticed, one of the defendants showed “video of Preston pulling the toy box over himself” and said Varley “bruises easily”.

Mr Wright added: ‘He also volunteered the observation: “You’ll think we’re harassing him or something.”

However, the prosecutor said the video was 12 days old and “therefore cannot be the real cause of the bruising.”

The court was also told a staff member felt Varley appeared ‘overprotective’ of Preston.

Mr Wright said Preston returned to hospital with a broken elbow just a week later and Varley gave completely contradictory accounts of how the “accident” had occurred.

Varley denies murder, sexual assault, assault by penetration, GBH for breaking his elbow three weeks before Preston’s death, four counts of cruelty to children, 14 counts of making and taking an indecent photograph of a child and one count of distributing an indecent photograph of a child.

McGowan-Fazakerley denied causing or permitting the death of a child and two counts of cruelty to children.

The two face two additional joint charges of sexual assault and cruelty to a child.

The trial, which is expected to last six to eight weeks, continues.