Teacher found guilty of murdering 13-month-old Preston Davey as he’s ‘sick in the dock’

Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley will receive their sentences at a later date at Preston Crown Court after being found guilty in relation to the death of 13-month-old Preston Davey

A former teacher has been convicted of sexually abusing and murdering a baby boy he intended to adopt.

Jamie Varley, 37, was found guilty at Preston Crown Court of murder, child cruelty, sexual offences and indecent images relating to 13-month-old Preston Davey. John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was also found guilty of allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and sexual assault. Varley was reportedly sick in the dock as the verdict was read out.

Varley was in the midst of adopting baby Preston (also known as Elijah) with his partner McGowan-Fazakerley. Tragically, just four months after being placed with the couple, Preston was rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital unconscious and suffering from cardiac arrest.

Regrettably, Preston could not be saved. Varley attempted to falsely claim that Preston had accidentally drowned in a bath, but prosecutors successfully demonstrated that his injuries were consistent with his airways being blocked.

The evidence put forward by the prosecution confirmed that in the final months of Preston’s life, he was regularly mistreated, sexually abused and physically attacked – enduring more than 40 separate injuries.

Karen Tonge for the Crown Prosecution Service stated: “This has been one of the most shocking and horrific cases I have dealt with in my career. Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley had a responsibility to care for and protect baby Preston. They violated that responsibility and 13-month-old Preston was abused with sickening ease.

“It is difficult to comprehend how the very people who should have loved him could inflict such sickening physical and sexual harm on an innocent child.

“No child should have to go through what Preston went through in the last four months of his short life and I cannot begin to imagine the toll this has taken on those that loved Preston. My thoughts remain with them all.”

Preston Davey was born on June 16, 2022; he was nine months old when he was placed with Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley with a view to his adoption.

Four months later, Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley rushed Preston to Blackpool Victoria Hospital around 6:30pm on July 27, 2023. He was unconscious and in cardiac arrest. Despite the tireless efforts of medical staff, Preston was declared dead just under an hour later.

A post-mortem determined that the cause of Preston’s death was acute upper airway obstruction, meaning he had been suffocated or something had been forced into his mouth that had caused the blockage.

Preston had been in the exclusive care of Varley that day until McGowan-Fazakerley returned from work and the pair took Preston to the hospital.

The evidence collected revealed that Preston endured tremendous suffering at the hands of his primary carer, Varley, while McGowan-Fazakerley, who had been involved in the sexual assault of Preston, had failed to protect him from physical and psychological harm.

Building the case: To bring a murder charge and prosecution, it was necessary for prosecutors to demonstrate that Varley had intended to kill or inflict serious harm on baby Preston and that his actions directly resulted in Preston’s death.

Despite Varley’s insistence that he hadn’t harmed Preston, experts confirmed that Preston’s condition couldn’t have been the result of an accidental bath drowning, as Varley suggested, or any other natural cause.

Preston had approximately 40 injuries, including bruising to his mouth, throat, bowel and bladder along with a healing fracture to his left arm which was determined to be non-accidental. These injuries painted a devastating picture of Preston’s time under the care of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.

In order to secure a guilty verdict for murder and the other charges faced by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, prosecutors constructed a powerful case including phone evidence demonstrating instances of child cruelty.

Expert evidence confirmed that Varley had also taken indecent images and videos of Preston, which were stored on his phone.

Medical evidence indicated that injuries to Preston’s body were consistent with sexual assault shortly before his tragic death and at some point in the weeks leading up to his death.

Ultimately, a wealth of evidence was presented to the jury who found Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley guilty of the crimes against baby Preston.

The duo will receive their sentences at a later date at Preston Crown Court.

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