In late 2018, Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley met in a bar in Manchester's Gay Village. They hit it off immediately, and when McGowan-Fazakerley went to stay at Varley's home in Blackpool, he never really left. A year later, they bought a house together on Staining Road in Blackpool, an extended three-bedroom semi fitted with marble floors, bifold doors, and chandeliers in the bedrooms. They also bought a dog, Maximus, a miniature pinscher, whom they doted on like a baby.
Together, they built a life that was Insta-ready; all they needed was a child to complete their picture-perfect family. But behind the veneer of respectability lay a much more sinister picture. This was one of Britain's most depraved couples.
Different Backgrounds
They came from very different backgrounds. Varley, 37, was one of five siblings in a matriarchal family in Blackpool. They were a close-knit unit headed by their mother, who lived nearby in an area bordering Grange Park, a notorious estate among the most deprived areas of the UK. McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was an only child, raised by his doting parents and grandmother in Congleton, an affluent market town on the edge of Cheshire's golden triangle. Privately educated at Kings School, Macclesfield, he went on to study at Keele University, progressing to PhD level before leaving to pursue a career in sales.
Together, their careers flourished. Despite severe dyslexia, Varley gained his teaching qualifications and was promoted from technician to teacher in the textiles department of Blackpool's South Shore Academy, later progressing to head of year. McGowan-Fazakerley rose through the ranks of the finance company he worked for to become operational manager for the north west, based from offices at Salford Quays.
The Adoption Process
They spoke about marriage and children from early in the relationship, but after attending a family wedding where the couple's child was part of the celebrations, they decided not to wait. McGowan-Fazakerley said: "I've always wanted children and Jamie's always wanted children. It just fitted. Careers were in the right place, we were in that house, we were settled; it felt like the right time." In late 2021, he began making enquiries with Adoption Now, the agency providing adoption services for councils in Greater Manchester and Lancashire. The pair went through the initial vetting process, delving into their health, finances, family backgrounds, and criminal records checks, with some training sessions held online due to COVID. There was nothing to alert the authorities to the evil truth behind this seemingly perfect couple.
The pair took a break to allow Varley to support his students through their GCSEs and his father, who had been diagnosed with cancer, before moving onto the next stage the following year. This involved eight face-to-face meetings with social worker Vicky Readett, along with VR safeguarding training, and in January 2023, the couple were approved as adopters.
Preston's Arrival
The same month, Oldham Council granted an adoption order for Preston Davey. Born to a killer serving time at HMP Styal, little Preston was a beautiful bouncing baby. At five days old, he had been removed from his mother and placed in foster care in Oldham, where he was thriving. Preston's grandmother, Debra Davey, 66, hoped to take care of her only grandson, but after being diagnosed with cancer, she was told she couldn't look after her daughter's child. She said: "Sarah wanted him right from the start. The plan was I would help her with having him." Social worker Amy Shepherdson created a profile for Preston on the Adoption Now website. She chose not to upload a photo, as she wanted would-be adopters to be drawn to his character, not simply his cheeky smile and adorable curly locks.
Within weeks, Preston was matched with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, and an informal meeting was arranged at a restaurant in Ashton-under-Lyne. As a friendly and sociable baby, Preston was happy to be held and fussed over by his new dads-to-be. Back in Blackpool, the couple hosted a 'Chosen Shower' with cake, decorations, and a social media-friendly balloon arch. The baby's bedroom was decorated in neutral tones, and Varley painted a mural on the wall with the name 'Preston Elijah'—the name they chose to give the little boy.
Varley, it was decided, was to be Preston's main carer. He had more experience with children, and his job was based around the school year. Meanwhile, McGowan-Fazakerley had the ability to earn large bonuses, which would boost their photogenic lifestyle.
The Abuse Begins
On April 3, 2023, Preston waved goodbye to his foster mum and was handed over to his new family. But his birth family were not happy with the move. Debra said: "I told them I didn't agree with it, and Sarah knew right from the start. Not because it was two men; she just got a horrible gut feeling about it. She told social services and the foster parents, but they just took him. She didn't sign anything." Tragically, the mother's intuition proved correct. Within four months of being placed with the couple, little Preston was dead. He was aged just 13 months old.
In his time in Blackpool, the innocent little boy was subjected to ever-increasing physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of evil Varley. Every day, McGowan-Fazakerley picked up his briefcase and went off to work, leaving the child he had vowed to protect in the care of a monster. Varley treated Preston as a plaything for his own amusement, showing little regard for the boy's wellbeing. Yet his abuse flew under the radar as Preston's life grew ever more miserable. Social workers, doctors, and healthcare workers failed to spot the warning signs that something was very wrong in the pristine home.
Snap-happy Varley captured it all. When police scoured the thousands of photos and videos on his camera roll after Preston had died, the sickening truth emerged. Varley's depraved interest in the helpless tot was first seen in disgusting photographs during a bath with Preston, weeks after he arrived on Staining Road. As time went on, more and more bruises could be seen on Preston's body, including a shocking human bite mark on his bottom. Videos showed Varley's ill treatment of the little boy—frightening him, keeping him awake, and spinning him so fast on a playground ride that he went cross-eyed. Later videos showed Preston in a state of frozen watchfulness, a trauma response seen in abused infants where they appear passive and quiet but hypervigilant to their environment.
Trophy photographs taken four days before he died showed Preston slumped over the bars of his cot after being sexually abused by both men. A photo of his injured bottom was further evidence of his abuse that day. The final footage, captured at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, July 27, 2023, showed Preston fighting for his life after a serious sexual assault by Varley. When McGowan-Fazakerley returned from work at 6:15 p.m., he was met with a scene of horror as the tragedy he could so easily have prevented unfolded.
Death and Investigation
Preston was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, but it was too late. He was pronounced dead at 7:18 p.m. Both men were invited into the room to spend Preston's final moments with him. As McGowan-Fazakerley made his way to the bedside, Varley collapsed on the floor and wailed for his own mother in a desperate bid to buy time. It wasn't long before his lies began to unravel. On the day Preston died, Varley claimed he had left him alone in the bath seat for a matter of minutes while he went to get some clothes. He returned to find Preston partially submerged, he said. But doctors found no water in Preston's lungs or stomach as they attempted to resuscitate him, and a post-mortem showed no signs of drowning. Instead, the examination pointed to a litany of physical and sexual abuse, including a serious sexual assault that had restricted Preston's airways hours before he died.
There were 40 separate non-accidental injuries to Preston's little body, including bruising to his head and body, his mouth and throat, his bladder, and injuries to his bottom. His elbow had been fractured by forceful twisting, and old blood in his lungs indicated he had been suffocated at least once before. Despite the irrefutable scientific evidence, Varley maintained his lies throughout a three-year investigation and six-week trial at Preston Crown Court. McGowan-Fazakerley claimed he was unaware of the peril he was leaving Preston in when he left for work each day.
Throughout the investigation, until their arrests in June 2025, the couple continued their relationship, living together at a detached house in Grimsargh, near Preston, which they were buying at the time Preston died. They claimed they did not discuss Preston as it was 'too upsetting,' and in the witness box, Varley maintained they were still a couple. It was only when McGowan-Fazakerley's defence barrister, Anne Whyte KC, said her client reluctantly accepted Varley had committed the crimes he was accused of that Varley's charade dropped. Once the jury had left the courtroom, Varley flounced from the witness box, refusing to look at his now ex-partner, as he was taken straight to the cells. When it was McGowan-Fazakerley's turn to give evidence, he was quite insistent: Jamie Varley was his ex. He too had been fooled by the act that had taken in doctors, social workers, teachers, and family members, he insisted, claiming to have known nothing about the abuse.
Police and Prosecution Statements
DCI Andy Fallows, who led the murder investigation, said: "The jury will have seen, at length, segments of the suspect interviews, and the body-worn video capturing Jamie Varley's performance outside Blackpool Victoria, where he's very theatrical. That is a marked difference to the man that is later interviewed on June 25, 2025. Difference in attitude, difference in demeanor. I think you see two sides to Jamie Varley throughout viewing those interviews and that body-worn video. I think Jamie Varley has sought to deceive right from day one. I think Jamie Varley has tried to control the narrative, and it's only through working through these events and piecing them together and looking at them side by side do you really see that he is a manipulative character, or he certainly had tried to be, and ultimately by adopting that approach we've been able to show him for what he is. Even in his evidence under cross-examination, you saw more of an obtuse, spiky side to him. He's a man that has claimed to have tried to assist the investigation and give the investigation answers in relation to what happened to Preston, but the reality is far different. The reality is he's concealed, he's lied, his account is, or was, wholly inconsistent and disbelievable. Difficult to deal with. The questions were asked, his answers have ultimately been found wanting, in my opinion. McGowan-Fazakerley is a man who, if you like, has seen no evil and heard no evil. He denies any wrongdoing. He did not want to believe some of the evidence that was presented with him. He presented and has presented as a man who works away a long time and wasn't aware of the number of bruises to Preston that we've seen, or the jury have seen, frequently over the days, weeks, and four months that he was in their care. He says he was unaware of how these bruises were caused, and it is hard to understand how anyone could live in that household with that many injuries to a child of that age who is immobile, is not yet walking, and not know that something very, very sinister is going on. They've tried to present as the perfect family, living in the perfect home, having the perfect lives. Instagram ready, aren't they? Everything's on social media, everything is brilliant, and if you scrape away the veneer of that you come to something that is entirely different. Everything wasn't good within the household. There were clearly arguments, bickering, clearly issues about long hours at work. Jamie struggling as a parent, as any new parent does, but it went further than that. The picture they tried to present to the outside world was one of respectability. The truth is far more sinister and darker than that."
Karen Tonge for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "This has been one of the most shocking and horrific cases I have dealt with in my career. Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley had a responsibility to care for and protect baby Preston. They violated that responsibility, and 13-month-old Preston was abused with sickening ease. It is difficult to comprehend how the very people who should have loved him could inflict such sickening physical and sexual harm on an innocent child. No child should have to go through what Preston went through in the last four months of his short life, and I cannot begin to imagine the toll this has taken on those that loved Preston. My thoughts remain with them all."
