A secondary school teacher has been given a whole-life order for sexually abusing and murdering the 13-month-old baby boy he was adopting with his partner. Jamie Varley, 37, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on Thursday and will never be eligible for parole, the judge Mr Justice Turner ruled.
Varley’s partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was jailed for 25 years for sexual abuse, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child. The couple had been in the process of adopting Preston Davey, who was placed with them at nine months old by an adoption agency.
The court heard that over the course of his time at the couple’s home in Staining, near Blackpool, the baby was “routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted”, prosecutor Peter Wright KC said. Evidence showed the baby had 40 traumatic injuries. On 27 July 2023, the couple took an unresponsive Preston to hospital, where medics worked for 50 minutes but could not save his life.
Varley claimed he had left the baby in the bath for a couple of minutes and returned to find him submerged, but medical evidence did not support this. A pathologist gave the cause of death as acute upper airways obstruction by either smothering or objects being inserted into the baby’s mouth. Disturbing images and videos on Varley’s phone showed he had been physically, psychologically and sexually abusing the child.
The case has raised questions about whether authorities missed opportunities to save Preston. He was seen by a “battery of professionals” in his final weeks, including social workers, doctors and nurses, and was taken to hospital three times, once with a broken arm, but each time returned home. A child safeguarding practice review has now resumed after being paused during the criminal proceedings.
In a victim impact statement, Preston’s biological mother, Sarah Davey, who is serving a life sentence for murder, said his death “should never have been allowed to happen” and that she carries “grief, guilt and heartbreak” every day. Preston’s foster mother, Sandra Cooper, described him as “joyful, so content” during the nine months he lived with her and her husband.
