- A secondary school teacher is accused of murdering a baby boy he was adopting.
- The child suffered extensive physical and sexual abuse before his death in 2023.
- A partner faces charges for allowing the child’s death and other cruelty offences.
A trial at Preston crown court involves 37-year-old Jamie Varley and his partner, 32-year-old John McGowan-Fazakerley. The couple from Blackpool were adopting Preston Davey. Prosecution claims Varley murdered the child after a period of severe and routine mistreatment, including sexual and physical assaults.
The baby arrived with the couple in April 2023 at nine months old. Four months later, he died after suffering cardiac arrest. Acute upper airways obstruction caused the death, likely due to smothering or objects being placed in his mouth, according to the postmortem report.
Evidence shows the child suffered about 40 traumatic injuries. This included 30 external bruises. Medical experts noted bruises consistent with slapping on the thigh and signs that the child’s head had been gripped, proving the death was not an accident.
The court heard that Varley recorded videos and photos of the abuse. One video shows the baby unattended in a bath for 14 minutes. Varley recorded the infant sliding around without ever intervening or speaking to the child during the footage.
Varley faces 26 charges, including murder and 13 counts of taking indecent images. He denies all charges. McGowan-Fazakerley is accused of allowing the death of a child and four other offences, all of which he also denies as the trial continues.
