Preston Davey's adoptive father chillingly stated "I'm definitely going to hell" before being found guilty of the child's murder and sexual abuse. Jamie Varley, 37, adopted Preston Davey at nine months old with his partner, former public schoolboy and financial sales manager, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.
They adopted the "sweet and bubbly" boy in 2023, but he tragically died four months later at just 13 months old. During a trial at Preston Crown Court, jurors were shown a series of clips from body-worn cameras, recorded at the hospital following Preston's death.
The court heard how, after Preston died, the parents and grandmother were invited into the bereavement room to spend time with him. Varley initially refused to enter but was eventually persuaded by hospital staff.
In a video clip shown in court, he was seen holding the baby, saying: "I can't do with people moaning out there because I'm broken in half. I don't think I can do this John."
McGowan-Fazackerley replied: "We are going to be okay. This is going to be the hardest thing that we're ever going to do in our lives, but we've got each other."
Varley then said: "I'm so angry at him. He hasn't got anybody up there. I probably won't see you again, I'm definitely going to Hell."
He was subsequently found guilty of murder, 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 was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.
A Home Office post-mortem examination ruled out drowning as the cause of death after Varley admitted to leaving Preston unsupervised in the bath. The examination revealed approximately 40 non-accidental, internal and external injuries.
These included multiple clusters of 'finger tip' bruises to his head, face and limbs, slap marks on his leg, and a human bite mark on the baby's right buttock.
Preston also suffered injuries to his mouth, throat and bottom, with areas of his anatomy described as "abnormal" and the injuries deemed consistent with "forcible penetration" and sexual abuse.
The cause of Preston's death was determined to be acute upper airways obstruction caused by an object or objects inserted into his mouth.
Earlier this week, Varley was handed a whole life order while McGowan-Fazakerley was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
