A secondary school teacher described as outgoing, theatrical, and a drama queen has been convicted of murdering and sexually abusing his 13-month-old adopted son after months of horrific mistreatment.
The Convictions
Jamie Varley, 37, was found guilty of killing baby Preston Davey, who suffered around 40 non-accidental injuries while in his care. These included fingertip bruising, slap marks, a human bite mark, and evidence of sexual abuse.
Prosecutors told jurors the toddler was treated as a plaything before his death in July 2023. After an eight-week trial at Preston Crown Court, jurors took around 14 hours to reach verdicts.
Varley was convicted of murder, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of child cruelty, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photographs or videos of a child, one count of distributing an indecent image, and one count of making an indecent image.
His partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, a former public school pupil and financial sales manager, was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty, and one count of sexually assaulting a child.
Courtroom Reactions
As the verdicts were delivered, Varley covered his face in disbelief before dropping to his knees, retching and vomiting. McGowan-Fazakerley showed little reaction, while Preston's mother and grandmother wept throughout the 29 guilty verdicts.
The pair will be sentenced on Thursday. Mr Justice Turner told jurors they would be exempt from future jury service due to the distressing evidence. Varley faces a mandatory life sentence.
Background of Abuse
Preston had been adopted after being removed from his mother, Sarah Davey, under an emergency care order. Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved as adoptive parents, and Preston moved into their Blackpool home in April 2023 at nine months old.
During less than four months, Preston was repeatedly assaulted, sexually abused, and photographed in degrading situations. Despite three hospital visits with suspicious bruising, concerns were dismissed and police investigations stood down.
Final Moments
On July 27, 2023, Varley rushed Preston to hospital claiming he left him in a bath. Medical staff fought for 50 minutes to save him, but a post-mortem revealed 40 injuries and ruled out drowning. The cause of death was acute upper airway obstruction from objects forced into his mouth.
Investigators found messages where Varley spoke of dark thoughts of suffocating or drowning Preston, and referred to him as dead meat after a sleepless night.
Disturbing Evidence
Police recovered indecent photographs and videos, including clips of Varley jump scaring the child awake and images showing Preston in his cot with his neck on a rail, legs in a frog-like position, and lips blue from oxygen deprivation.
A video recorded 90 minutes before the final hospital trip showed Preston in severe distress with agonal breaths, while Varley used Snapchat. Experts noted frozen watchfulness, a trauma response in abused children.
Following the convictions, Oldham Council will resume a child safeguarding practice review.
