Teacher guilty of sexually abusing and murdering adopted baby

Lancashire Police

A teacher has been found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering the 13-month-old baby boy he adopted with his partner.

Preston Davey died in July 2023 at the hands of Jamie Varley, 37, who took a year off work to adopt him.

Varley, from Blackpool, told police Preston had accidentally drowned in a bath, but a post-mortem examination discovered the child had suffered 40 injuries.

His partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, has been found guilty of sexual assault, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child.

Preston was adopted by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, a financial sales manager, in April 2023 and in the next four months he suffered sexual abuse and ill-treatment, the trial at Preston Crown Court heard.

Preston was born in June 2022 and taken into care by Oldham Council.

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He was placed with foster parents at five days old, remaining with them for the first 10 months of his life.

His mother, Sarah Davey, now 42, had been jailed at the age of 14 for the murder of a frail pensioner in 1998 and had been in and out of prison since then.

Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved for adoption and Preston began living at their home in April 2023, when he was nine-months-old.

But in the just under four months he was in their care, he was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering 40 traumatic injuries.

He also had indecent images and videos taken of him.