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Two homosexual men have been convicted of murdering and sexually assaulting a 13-month-old baby boy they were allowed to adopt in the UK.
Preston Davey was handed over to teacher Jamie Varley, 37, and sales manager John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, both from Blackpool, at nine months old, and over the next four months was physically and sexually abused before being murdered by Varley in July 2023.
Preston was taken to hospital three times in the months leading up to his death with suspicious injuries that were explained away by Varley, who told medical staff after the infant’s death that he had drowned in the bath after being left alone for a brief period.
But Preston was completely dry when he arrived at hospital, and a post-mortem found no evidence to back up the teacher’s claims, but identified 40 non-accidental traumatic internal and external injuries.
The injuries included at least 30 external bruises, internal bruising to his mouth and throat, internal bruising to his anus, bowel, and bladder, and a healing fracture to his left upper arm, around his elbow.
The cause of death was listed as acute upper airways obstruction by either smothering or an object or objects inserted into his mouth.
Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley denied the charges but were found guilty on Monday by a jury after an eight-week trial at Preston Crown Court.
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, and one of making an indecent photo.
McGowan-Fazakerley 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.
Both will be sentenced on Thursday.
Lancashire Police Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fallows said after the conviction: “It is not often in this job that you encounter pure evil. Anybody who has followed this trial will no doubt understand why I place Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley in that category.
“Almost from day one, they set about abusing Preston and making his short life a harrowing tale of misery and pain. It was this abuse that ultimately led to Preston’s death.
“For the first nine months of his life Preston was a happy and healthy child but by the end he was a broken shell. This was due to the sordid and wicked acts of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.”
DCI Fallows also described Varley as a “manipulative character” and “an arrogant, self-centred liar” who sought to control the narrative and deceive authorities from day one.
“They’ve tried to present as the perfect family, living in the perfect home, having the perfect lives. Instagram ready, aren’t they? Everything’s on social media, everything is brilliant and I think if you scrape away the veneer of that you come to something that is entirely different,” he said.
The case has raised questions about adoption processes in the UK, and Oldham Council said a Child Safeguarding Practice Review was underway.
Regional adoption agency Adoption Now called Preston’s abuse and death “deeply upsetting” but said it followed “a strict and rigorous process … in the assessment and approval of adopters”.
Preston, whose 42-year-old mother Sarah Davey had been in and out of jail since murdering a pensioner in 1998, was placed into foster care at just five days old, and was described by foster parents who looked after him for the first nine months of his life as a “very happy baby”.
Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved by an adoption panel in January 2023 despite having no parenting experience, and after a familiarisation process Preston was moved permanently into their home in April, with the abuse starting within weeks.
Header image: Left, Varley. Right, McGowan-Fazakerley. Inset, Preston (Lancashire Police).
