Jamie Varley is accused of the murder of baby Preston Davey and John McGowan-Fazakerley of allowing the death of the child, with both accused of sexual abuse
Video shown in court today showed a baby at home with the man accused of sexually abusing and killing him.
Jamie Varley, 37, and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, adopted 13-month-old Preston Davey in April 2023, Preston Crown Court heard.
The jury was shown clips of Preston bouncing happily in his jumperoo. As he bobs in front of the TV, two brightly clothed characters on the screen sing ‘the daddies on the bus say I love you’. The video was captured on Varley’s phone and shared with his mother Karen Graham on WhatsApp.
It is, the prosecution say, ‘innocuous’. But on the fourth day of the trial at Preston Crown Court, a series of photos and video clips were shown which the prosecution say paint a different picture, Manchester Evening News reports.
Peter Wright KC says they depict a little boy who was abused physically, psychologically and sexually during the time he was in the care of his adoptive fathers.
On July 27, 2023, the 13-month-old died after being taken into the A&E department at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in cardiac and respiratory arrest. He had more than 40 separate internal and external injuries, a Home Office post mortem found.
Varley, a former teacher at Blackpool’s South Shore Academy, is accused of murdering Preston after carrying out a serious sexual assault on the child. McGowan-Fazackerley, 32, is accused of allowing Preston’s death by failing to remove him from the risk posed by his partner.
Mr Wright KC showed photos and clips captured on Varley’s phone and shared with McGowan-Fazackerley which the prosecution say demonstrate the cruelty Preston suffered.
The jury heard that on June 12, photos of Preston playing naked in a paddling pool and on a play mat were shared from Varley’s phone to McGowan-Fazackerley’s device with jokey comments about the baby’s genitals.
A series of clips captured on the evening before Preston’s first birthday show the little boy dropping off to sleep as loud music from the film Moana blares from the TV, the court heard. In the clips, Varley’s checked pyjama bottoms can be seen and in one he is heard shouting ‘boo’ – startling the baby.
The jury was shown text messages between the men that evening in which McGowan-Fazackerley said he was delayed at Heathrow Airport. Varley replied: “its your f***ing fault now f*** off.”
Around 40 minutes after the videos of Preston being “kept awake” were recorded, another video was recorded showing the baby lying on the floor, it was heard. The prosecution said he “appears unwell”.
Varley then texted his partner saying Preston was “ill again” and “might have had another seizure” but said he was not going to take him to hospital, the court heard.
The prosecution say the videos demonstrate cruelty towards Preston at the hands of Varley, and in the case of the paddling pool pictures, amount to indecent images. A number of photos taken on other days were zoomed in to show bruising on Preston’s head and arm.
Varley is accused of murder, manslaughter, sexual assault, GBH, child cruelty, making indecent images and distributing an indecent image. McGowan-Fazackerley is accused of causing and allowing the death of a child, two counts of cruelty to a person under 16 and sexual assault of a male child under 13.
Both men, of Staining Avenue, Blackpool, deny the allegations.
