A secondary school teacher has been given a whole-life order for the sexual abuse and murder of a 13-month-old 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 Preston was treated as a “plaything” and suffered 40 traumatic injuries during his time at the couple’s home in Staining, near Blackpool. On 27 July 2023, they took an unresponsive Preston to hospital, where medics tried for 50 minutes to save his life. Varley gave a “performance” of a grieving parent that a senior doctor described as unlike anything she had seen before.
Varley claimed he had left Preston in the bath for a few minutes and returned to find him submerged, but medical evidence contradicted this: Preston’s hair was dry, he had a nappy on, and he had not swallowed water. A pathologist gave the cause of death as acute upper airways obstruction by smothering or objects inserted into his mouth.
A police investigation found disturbing images and videos on Varley’s phone showing physical, psychological and sexual abuse. The case has raised questions about missed opportunities to save Preston, as he was seen by multiple professionals in his final weeks, including social workers, doctors and nurses, and taken to hospital three times—once with a broken arm—but each time returned home.
A child safeguarding practice review, launched by Oldham Council after Preston’s death, was paused during the criminal proceedings and has now resumed. In a victim impact statement, Preston’s biological mother, Sarah Davey, said his death “should never have been allowed to happen” and that she carries “grief, guilt and heartbreak” every day.
