A baby boy was 'routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted' before being killed by a secondary school teacher who was in the process of adopting him, a jury has heard. Jamie Varley, 37, and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, were caring for 13-month-old Preston Davey when he died.
Varley faces a charge of murder along with 25 other charges relating to sexual and physical mistreatment of the baby. McGowan-Fazakerley has been charged with allowing the death of a child and four other offences. The trial began at Preston Crown Court on Monday.
Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, said the couple from Blackpool were 'in a seemingly stable and loving relationship' but were 'wholly unsuited to the role of adoptive parents'. The baby was placed with them in April 2023, aged nine months, and four months later he was taken to hospital suffering from cardiac arrest.
A postmortem gave the cause of death as acute upper airways obstruction, resulting from smothering or insertion of an object into his mouth. Wright said the evidence showed Preston was murdered by Varley. The baby had about 40 traumatic injuries, including 30 external bruises.
Varley is also accused of taking images and videos of the abuse. The jury was shown footage of the baby alone in a bath for 14 minutes while Varley recorded without intervening. Both defendants deny all charges.
