NSPCC call tragic case of murdered 13-month-old baby Preston Davey ‘harrowing and deeply upsetting'

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children have called the abuse and murder of Preston Davey ‘harrowing and deeply upsetting.’

Today, former Blackpool teacher Jamie Varley and his ex-partner John McGowan-Fazakerley were sentenced at Preston Crown Court after being convicted by a jury following an eight-week trial earlier this week.

Varley, 37, was handed a whole life order for the murder and sexual abuse of his adopted 13-month-old baby he treated as a ‘plaything’, while McGowan-Fazakerley was also jailed for 25 years for allowing Preston’s death.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Turner said Preston had faced “unremitting abuse” and neglect before being killed by Varley during a sex attack. Turning to Varley, he said: “It was you who did this. You murdered him.

“A whole life order is a sentence of last resort for cases of the most extreme gravity. This is a case of the most extreme gravity. You must stay in prison for the rest of your life. You will never be eligible for parole.”

Varley, wearing a purple vee-neck T-shirt, looked gaunt and sat with hands folded on his lap looking straight ahead and made no reaction.

Prevent future tragedies

An NSPCC spokesperson said: "This trial and sentencing hearing have revealed the full extent of the pain and suffering endured by Preston Davey in his short life. To learn of the abuse inflicted on him by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley before his murder is harrowing and deeply upsetting, and it must drive thorough and meaningful review and scrutiny.

"There are clearly important lessons from this terrible case, and the Child Safeguarding Practice Review must establish whether more could have been done to protect Preston, and how we can learn from any failings to prevent future tragedies where possible.

"At the same time, it is vital to remember that we can all help keep children safe. By asking questions – sometimes difficult ones – and by sharing information or concerns with someone who can help, we can create a safer environment for children to grow up in and help ensure that no child falls through the gaps.

“Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare or safety can call 0808 8005000 or email [email protected], but if a child is in immediate danger, always call the police on 999.”

The trial

Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved for adoption in January 2023 and Preston began living at their home in Blackpool in April that year. The child had been “thriving”, a little boy who lit up the room” with smiles, the court heard.

But in the just under four months he was in their care, he was routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him, sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering 40 traumatic injuries. A social services investigation is under way.

Their trial heard Preston had been taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times in the months before his death with suspicious bruises noticed by medical staff, but these were explained away and police stood down.

Preston had also been seen by multiple social workers and teachers, colleagues of Varley, who took a year off work as head of year and design and technology teacher at South Shore Academy in Blackpool. But on July 27 2023, Varley rushed Preston to hospital a final time, unresponsive.

He claimed to have left the child in the bath for a couple of minutes and returned to find him submerged. Medics worked in vain for 50 minutes to save his life. Meanwhile, Varley gave a “performance” of a grieving parent that one senior doctor described as unlike any she had ever seen before.

It was also noted Preston’s hair was dry, he had a nappy in place and he did not appear to have swallowed any water. A Home Office post-mortem examination ruled out drowning as the cause of death and the examination found around 40 non-accidental, internal and external injuries.

They included multiple clusters of “finger tip” bruises on his head, face and limbs, slap marks on his leg, and a human bite mark on the baby’s right buttock. Preston also had injuries to his mouth, throat and bottom, with parts of his anatomy “abnormal” and the injuries consistent with “forcible penetration” and sexual abuse.

The cause of Preston’s death was found to be acute upper airways obstruction by an object or objects inserted into his mouth. As a “looked after” child, Preston was seen by a “battery of professionals” during his life including social workers, health visitors and hospital medics.

A child safeguarding practice review, paused during the criminal proceedings, will be relaunched by Oldham Council. Detectives recovered evidence that Varley had confessed to a fellow teacher about having “dark thoughts” of suffocating or drowning Preston. He had also sent a text to his sister saying the child was “dead meat” after a sleepless night.

Neighbours told the jury they wondered why they heard the baby crying so much. Most damning of all were grim indecent photos and videos of the abuse of Preston, some of which “cannot be unseen”, the trial heard.

Some of the evidence was too much to stomach for one juror, leading to the trial being aborted and re-started with a new jury. The photos and videos ranged from examples of Varley “jump scaring” the clearly exhausted and sleepy child to wake him up, to much more potentially lethal examples.

Police recovered a series of photos of Preston taken four days before his death, over a period of three minutes 12 seconds, at the time of a sexual assault. Preston is photographed along with his favourite toy teddies, suspended over the top horizontal bar of his cot, his neck resting on the bar and his legs in a “frog like” position, seemingly asleep or unconscious.

Fluid dribbles from his mouth, his tongue his protruding and his lips are blue from lack of oxygen. The images are too graphic to be released by police.

Four days later, 90 minutes before he is rushed to hospital, Varley recorded another video, in between using Snapchat and checking emails, of Preston in extreme distress, hardly breathing and taking “agonal breaths”.

Preston had been described as a happy, smiley baby, clearly seen in early photos. He is described as looking “blank” later in his life, a sign child abuse expert Dr Joanne Gifford described to the jury as “frozen watchfulness”, a trauma and stress response to abuse.

Jurors on the trial were excused from doing jury service again for life.