Remembering Preston Davey the baby boy murdered and abused in Staining by his soon-to-be adopted 'dads'

This is the face of little Preston Davey.

The little boy brutally murdered, sexually assaulted and mistreated by the very people who were meant to love and protect him.

Baby Preston lived for just one year, one month and 11 days. He had a whole lifetime ahead of him but instead it was ripped away by the two men he came to know as ‘dad’.

Ex-South Shore Academy teacher Jamie Varley and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley were in the process of adopting him.

They had been through rigorous background checks and ‘getting to know you’ sessions but somehow managed to fool everyone around them including professionals at Adoption Now employed on behalf of Oldham Council trained to spot the signs.

From moving in with the couple at their home in Staining Road, Staining in April 2023 at nine-months-old, the tragic tot was routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him, was sexually abused and physically assaulted.

The “sweet and bubbly” baby boy suffered 40 trauma injuries, internally and externally, including tears and lacerations, with “in excess” of 30 ‘non-accidential’ bruises across his body.

Despite claiming the baby who was unable to walk, had managed to climb out of his bath seat and drown, it has been proved Varley murdered the youngster on July 27, 2023 by causing an upper airways obstruction during a sexual assault.

The fatal sexual assault meant baby Preston was unable to breathe triggering a cardiac arrest. Police found a video of Preston in a distressed state just hours before his death where he was struggling to recover from an earlier sexual assault that also deprived him of oxygen.

At around 6.20pm on July 27 2023, Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley finally rushed Preston unconscious from their home to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for help.

Medics worked for nearly an hour to resuscitate the child but could not save him.

Today, 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.

The pair will now be sentenced on Thursday.

We must now make sure this little boy’s story is shared far and wide and questions are asked of those who made the decisions that led him to being in harm's way.

This is the only way little Preston will get justice.