A teacher accused of murdering a baby allegedly said "I f***ing killed him" as a doctor attempted to resuscitate the child in a hospital A&E department, a court has heard.
Allegations of Abuse and Murder
Jamie Varley, 37, is accused of killing and sexually abusing 13-month-old Preston Davey, whom he was in the process of adopting with his 32-year-old partner John McGowan-Fazackerley. Preston died at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in July 2023 after suffering 40 injuries over a four-month period while in the couple's care, prosecutors allege.
The two men, of Grimsargh, Preston, are on trial at Preston Crown Court charged with a string of offences against the baby. McGowan-Fazackerley is alleged to have allowed the child's death. Both deny all charges.
Hospital Testimony
On Tuesday, the jury heard evidence on day six of the trial. Jurors were told medics worked on Preston for around an hour after he was brought into the hospital in cardiac and respiratory arrest.
Dr Wendy Aubrey, the anaesthetist tasked with intubating Preston, told the court she responded to an emergency call in A&E and arrived within three to four minutes to find the baby being treated on a trolley. She said that both parents came into the room during the resuscitation, explaining that this is standard practice as it helps parents appreciate "everything that can be done is being done".
"I recall one dad [McGowan-Fazackerley] was quite subdued and stood to my right," she told the court. "The other dad [Varley] was very dramatic and more dramatic than I have seen parents previously - a bit chaotic, he wouldn't stand still and let people support him. He wouldn’t listen to what was being said."
Varley was initially shouting "don't let him die!", she told the court. "He was saying don’t stop - I presume he meant resuscitation. He then said: 'I f***ing killed him,'" the court heard.
Resuscitation Efforts
When it was determined Preston could not be saved, and resuscitation efforts were stopped, she said Varley attempted to carry on CPR himself. She said she had to be "quite firm and tell him to stop what he was doing to Preston".
Nurse Rosanna Briggs told the jury she took an account from the family of what had happened to Preston. She was told Varley had left Preston in a bath seat while he went to get a towel and returned to find him drowning, the court heard. However, doctors noted that Preston was dry and that there was no water expelled from his lungs as would be expected. Blood gas tests suggested he had been without oxygen for longer than the 10 minutes reported, Dr Ram Patel said.
The court also heard a statement from a healthcare assistant who took the parents to an empty room while Preston was in resuscitation. She described Varley as "difficult to manage" as he continued to try and reach Preston. She said: "At one point he even said 'all my fault' and 'can’t die'. He said 'I am a teacher. I am a year head. I have a level three in child protection.'"
The healthcare assistant later raised a number of concerns about her interactions with the couple. She said McGowan-Fazackerley gave inconsistent accounts, first saying he had gone into the house to find Jamie giving CPR and later saying he had been locked out because the keys were in the door. She also noted that neither man was wearing shoes, which she found unusual, and that Preston’s nappy was dry. She added that Varley's comments about being a teacher with child protection training seemed odd given the circumstances.
Charges and Denials
Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of cruelty to a child, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one count of distributing an indecent photo of a child to his co-accused and one count of making an indecent photo. McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of sexual assault of a child. The trial continues.
