Preston Davey was a ‘perfectly healthy baby’ before being adopted by John McGowan-Fazakerley and Jamie Varley and subjected to a vile campaign of abuse that would end his life
Being spun on a roundabout at agonising speed, eyes rolling into the back of his head, baby Preston Davey’s resigned terror was plain for all to see in a harrowing video taken by the man who was supposed to protect him.
The tot was just 13 months old when he was killed by his adoptive father Jamie Varley, who subjected him to a four-month campaign of abuse. Yesterday, Varley was 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.
His ex-partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.
Police analysis of the couple’s phones exposed the true horrors that little Preston had been subjected to before his death on July 27, 2023 when he was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, having suffered a collapse and cardiac arrest. At the time, the infant had suffered 40 external and internal traumatic injuries consistent with “forcible penetration” and sexual abuse. A post-mortem found a fracture to Preston’s upper left arm, as well as internal bruising to his throat, bottom, bladder and bleeding in the lungs.
Design and technology teacher Varley claimed his adopted son had accidentally drowned in the bath while left alone briefly, despite the fact that the baby was dry, wearing a nappy, and did not appear to have any water in his lungs. Police later determined that there was no water in the bath in question.
The post-mortem ruled out drowning and gave Preston’s cause of death to be acute upper airways obstruction, caused either by smothering or by an object or objects being inserted into his mouth.
Multiple non-accidental, internal and external injuries were also detected, including tears and lacerations, and ‘in excess’ of 30 bruises. Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour concluded that Preston had a bruise in his deep throat area, a human bite mark on his bottom and other injuries possibly caused by ‘forcible penetration’. The jury heard how parts of the child’s anatomy were ‘abnormal’.
Dr Joanne Gifford, an expert in child sexual abuse and clinical lead for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, was of the opinion that Preston displayed signs of suffering sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
Warped ‘trophies’
Varley’s phone contained hundreds of harrowing videos and images taken at their semi-detached house in Blackpool that laid Preston’s torment bare. One image showed the youngster playing naked in a paddling pool around two weeks before his death, with what Home Office pathologist Dr Armour described as a human bite mark on the right side of his bottom.
She said the mark on his body was a round, circular bruise, turning slightly purple and around 3.5cm in diameter. “The size, configuration, which means the shape, are all consistent with a human bite mark,” she confirmed.
Another video from Varley’s phone showed Preston in his cot, along with two toy teddy bears, four days before his death. The video and images stretch over a period of three minutes and 12 seconds, with the child’s head and arms over the top horizontal bar of his cot and his neck resting on the bar.
His body was partially suspended, his legs in a ‘frog like’ position and the child seemingly asleep or unconscious. “This is very unsafe and in my view dangerous,” Dr Armour said. “He’s got his neck in contact with that cot railing. That’s going to inhibit your ability to breathe.” The prosecution claimed the images were “trophies of a sexual encounter”.
In one still photograph, Preston’s head was in a slightly different position with fluid coming from his mouth. Dr Armour continued: “Preston’s tongue is protruding, its blue and also his lips appear blue, consistent with a lack of oxygen in the blood.”
The trial was told that Varley recorded Preston playing with his genitals for his “own sexual gratification” and also photographed him asleep with his private parts exposed.
Cruel tricks
Despite the fact that Varley was supposed to care for Preston, the videos and images suggest that, in reality, he revelled in terrorising the youngster. In a clip that lasts 14 minutes and 31 seconds, Preston was seen alone in a bath while Varley hid out of sight on the landing, in a supposed bid to “see how he reacts to his own company”.
In his police interview, the officer said: “How do you explain that, Jamie? He’s slipped, whimpering, I would describe him as distressed. Why not go to comfort him? Have you left him in the bath because you are fed up with him?”
Varley replied: “I was keeping an eye on him. He’s not distressed. There was no intent to hurt him.”
Another piece of disturbing footage shows Preston being spun around fast on a park playground, with his eyes rolling back in his head. “They are hard videos to watch,” Dr Joanne Gifford told the court. “They are a child having unpleasant experiences.”
Dr Gifford said the tot’s response, staring blankly, not laughing or enjoying the activity, would be consistent with a sign of trauma called ‘frozen watchfulness’. In yet another harrowing video taken on the eve of his first birthday, Preston is seen being deliberately kept awake by Varley as the soundtrack to Disney’s Moana plays loudly in the background. AS the exhausted tot tries to shut his eyes, his father ‘jump scares’ him, shouting ‘Boo!’ and startling him awake.
Varley also filmed Preston accidentally pulling a heavy wooden abacus onto his head, saying ‘oopsie’ before going to help. He used to video to cover his tracks when Preston was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital on June 30 and Varley was questioned about bruises on the child’s head. He did not tell medics that the video had actually been taken 12 days before.
“You could just see in these photographs a different child that’s looking back at the camera,” Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fallows, who led the investigation, said. “It’s really sad to see. He visibly looks like a different child. They have beaten him. They have systematically assualted him, psychologically tortured him.”
‘Near-miss episodes’
Dr Gifford identified three ‘near miss’ episodes where the child was in a critical condition. These included a 29-second video on Varley’s phone showing Preston laid on the floor in only a nappy, struggling for breath.
One video, taken around 90 minutes before the child was rushed to hospital on the day he died, showed Preston lying on a bed in a babygrow, struggling to breathe The video is believed to have been filmed after Varley sexually assaulted the child. Dr Gifford said: “Clinically I watched that and I wanted to resuscitate him immediately, he looks terminal in that video.
“There are parts of not breathing. Gasping. I would describe as agonal gasp. He’s a child in that video who needs to be resuscitated.”
Dr Gifford also said she could identify from photos of Preston before his death nine bruises to his face and one to his chin, on top of the 30 injuries found at post-mortem.
‘Dark thoughts’
They court heard how Varley told others he’d had ‘dark thoughts’ about Preston, who he said was ‘just annoying’. When asked to explain a text sent to his sister about Preston, who he described as ‘dead meat’ after a sleepless night, Varley said: “It was just language that I use. In social settings, I’m dramatic. Sassy. I just easily throw words about.”
Co-worker Mrs Gee recalled how, on one occasion, Varley arrived at her home in a state of agitation, while Preston wore a blue plaster cast on his arm. She told jurors: “He told me how he was having harmful thoughts towards the baby in terms of drowning or suffocation. He was still agitated at this point.
“He was very quick to say this was something he was not going to act upon. I believed him, I have children of my own and sometimes your thoughts go to dark places.” Varley informed her he’d told all this to his employer and that the school was arranging welfare home visits. She remembered: “I did not do anything about it. I believed it was all being dealt with.”
If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com
