A high school teacher has been found guilty of the murder and sexual abuse of a 13-month-old baby he treated as a “plaything”. Jamie Varley, 37, adopted Preston Davey at nine months old with his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, a financial sales manager. The baby had been taken from his mother, Sarah Davey, by an emergency care order from Oldham Council.
The Abuse and Injuries
During the nearly four months Preston was in their care, he was routinely ill-treated. Indecent images and videos were taken of him, and he was sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering 40 traumatic injuries, according to the trial at Preston Crown Court.
Guilty Verdicts
After an eight-week trial, the jury spent around 14 hours considering verdicts. Varley was found guilty of murder, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of child cruelty, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one of distributing an indecent photo, and one of making an indecent photo. McGowan-Fazakerley was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty, and one count of sexual assault of a child.
As the verdicts were read, Varley put his hands to his face in shock, collapsed to his knees, and vomited. McGowan-Fazakerley showed no reaction, while his father shook his head. Preston’s mother and grandmother burst into tears.
Sentencing and Judge's Remarks
Sentencing was postponed, with Mr Justice Turner stating he will pass sentence on Thursday. He thanked the jury, exempting them from jury duty for life due to the nature of the case. Varley faces a mandatory life sentence for murder.
Medical Evidence
Preston had been taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times before his death with suspicious bruises, but these were explained away. On July 27, 2023, Varley rushed Preston to hospital unresponsive, claiming he left him in the bath for a few minutes. Medics worked for 50 minutes but could not save him. A post-mortem ruled out drowning and found around 40 non-accidental injuries, including fingertip bruises, slap marks, a human bite mark, and injuries consistent with sexual abuse. The cause of death was acute upper airways obstruction by an object inserted into his mouth.
Evidence and Background
Detectives recovered evidence that Varley confessed to a fellow teacher about having “dark thoughts” of suffocating or drowning Preston. He also sent a text to his sister saying the child was “dead meat”. Neighbors wondered why the baby cried so much. Indecent photos and videos of the abuse were described as “cannot be unseen”. One juror was too distressed, leading to a trial restart with a new jury.
Photos taken four days before Preston’s death showed him suspended over his cot, seemingly unconscious, with fluid dribbling from his mouth and blue lips. A video recorded 90 minutes before his death showed him in extreme distress, hardly breathing. Preston had been described as a happy, smiley baby earlier, but later appeared “blank”, a sign of “frozen watchfulness” due to trauma.
