Crown Prosecution Service say murder of 13-month-old baby 'one of the most shocking and horrific cases'

The Crown Prosecution Service has called the trial of a Blackpool teacher accused of the murder of a baby he was trying to adopt ‘shocking and horrific’.

Jamie Varley, 37, has been found guilty at Preston Crown Court of the murder of 13-month-old Preston Davey after subjecting him to months of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

The former South Shore Academy teacher Varley, of Chandlers Way, Grimsargh and formerly of Staining Road, Staining has been 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 of distributing an indecent photo of a child, to his co-accused, and one of making an indecent photo.

McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, also of of Chandlers Way, Grimsargh and formerly of Staining Road, Staining has been found guilty of allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.

Mr Justice Turner thanked the jury for their public service, adding: “Once you have been discharged from this case, bearing in mind what we have called upon you to do, I’m going to exempt you from the obligation to sit on a jury for life.”

The judge left court without directly addressing the defendants.

‘Horrific’

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.”

A tragic case

Preston Davey was born on 16 June 2022. Varley was in the process of adopting baby Preston (also known as Elijah) with his partner McGowan-Fazakerley. Just four months after being placed with the couple, Preston was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital unconscious and in cardiac arrest.

Sadly, Preston could not be saved. Despite the best efforts of medical professionals, Preston was pronounced dead just under an hour later.

Varley tried falsely claiming that Preston had accidentally drowned in a bath, but prosecutors were able to prove that his injuries were consistent with his airways being obstructed.

The evidence presented by the prosecution proved that in the final months of Preston’s life, he was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted – suffering more than 40 separate injuries.

A post-mortem concluded that the cause of Preston’s death was acute upper airway obstruction, meaning he had been smothered or something had been inserted into his mouth that had caused the obstruction.

Preston had been in the sole care of Varley that day until McGowan-Fazakerley returned from work and the couple took Preston to the hospital.

The evidence gathered showed that Preston suffered greatly at the hands of his primary carer, Varley, while McGowan-Fazakerley, who had been involved in the sexual assault of Preston, had failed to protect him from physical and psychological harm.

Building the case

To charge and prosecute a case of murder, prosecutors had to prove that Varley had intended to kill or commit serious harm to baby Preston and that it was his actions that caused Preston’s death.

Although Varley claimed that he had not caused Preston any harm, experts confirmed that Preston’s condition could not have been caused by accidental drowning in the bath, as Varley claimed, or any other natural cause.

Preston had around 40 injuries, including bruising to his mouth, throat, bowel and bladder along with a healing fracture to his left arm which was deemed to be non-accidental. These injuries painted a heartbreaking picture of Preston’s time in the care of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.

To secure a guilty verdict for murder and the other charges faced by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, prosecutors built a compelling case including phone evidence showing instances of child cruelty.

Expert evidence proved that Varley had also taken indecent images and videos of Preston, which were stored on his phone. Medical evidence showed that injuries to Preston’s body were consistent with sexual assault shortly before his tragic death and sometime in the weeks before his death.

Ultimately a wealth of evidence was presented to the jury who found Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley guilty of the crimes against baby Preston.

The pair will be sentenced on Thursday at Preston Crown Court.