Teacher ‘subjected baby to sinister campaign of sexual abuse before murder’

A foster mother who cared for a baby boy before he was sexually abused and murdered by an adopted parent had a ‘gut feeling something was wrong’ before he died, a court has heard.

Sandra Cooper looked after Preston Davey for 10 months from when he was just five days old until he was placed in the care of high school teacher Jamie Varley, 37, and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.

She told Preston Crown Court: ‘He was beautiful, he was happy, he laughed, he smiled really early. Just a really lovable baby. He loved cuddles. He was just having a really nice life.’

But jurors have heard that over the final four months of his short life, baby Preston was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering 40 traumatic injuries.

Varley is accused of killing 13-month-old Preston Davey, along with 25 other charges relating to his sexual and physical mistreatment.

McGowan-Fazakerley is accused of causing or allowing the death of the child and four other offences.

Both men deny all charges.

Mrs Cooper, who had fostered 43 children over 27 years, said there was a gradual familiarisation with the adoptive parents before finally giving Preston up for adoption and him moving in with them on April 3, 2023.

But, afterwards, planned visits by her to see the child had been made difficult by the defendants, she claimed.

Mrs Cooper said she had difficulty getting access to see Preston and made a complaint to a social worker.

She told the jury: ‘I was worried. I felt like something is wrong. I felt like they were hiding him from me.

‘It’s just my, call it gut feeling. I felt like something was wrong.’

Eventually a date was made, and she got to see Preston for the last time.

‘It was made difficult for us, but I would’ve walked to the ends of the earth for that visit,’ Mrs Cooper said.

‘He just looked a bit stiff, a bit blank, but we had not seen him for a while. I was just really glad to see him.’

Jurors have heard that despite Preston’s life having had ‘more than its share of misfortune’, he was a ‘perfectly healthy boy’ before being adopted by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.

Peter Wright KC, opening the case for the prosecution, said: ‘This is inevitably a highly emotionally charged case. It’s a terrible case because it involves the death of a very, very young child.

‘It is inevitable that it will provoke strong feelings in anyone who hears the details of this case.’

He warned them to ‘steel themselves’ because they would have to view images of Preston alleged to have been taken before and after he had been sexually assaulted.

Preston was born on June 16, 2022, and went to live with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley at their home on Staining Road, Blackpool, in April 2023.

Less than four months later, at about 6.30pm on July 27, 2023, he was brought to the Accident and Emergency Department of Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

He was unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest, Mr Wright told the court.

Medics tried to revive him but he was pronounced dead within an hour.

Varley claimed he had put the child in a baby chair in the bath, then left him for around four minutes and when he returned the child was drowning.

He was ‘hysterical’ and blaming himself for what had happened, but this was all a ‘cover up’ act, Mr Wright said.

Preston was in fact dry, had dry hair and did not appear to have swallowed any water.

Mr Wright said: ‘As terrible as it is, this tragedy was not the result of some dreadful yet unforeseen accident, or natural phenomenon.

‘The evidence gathered during the investigation into his untimely death revealed a much more sinister pathology.

‘We say the evidence demonstrates that he was murdered by one of the people entrusted with his wellbeing; one of his proposed adoptive parents.

‘We say the person responsible for killing Preston Davey was the defendant, Jamie Varley.

The prosecutor added: ‘But that was not the only tragedy to befall him when in the care of these defendants.

‘In the final months of his brief life, we say he was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted.’

A Home Office post-mortem examination found multiple non-accidental, internal and external injuries.

There were bruises and grazes to his head, face and mouth, upper limbs, chest, back and left thigh.

Preston also had injuries to his mouth, throat and bottom.

There was no evidence to support natural disease or drowning as the cause of death and the internal injuries were caused shortly before death.

The post-mortem gave the cause of his death to be acute upper airways obstruction, a result either of a smothering most likely with a hand or soft fabric or by the insertion of an object or objects into his mouth.

Varley was mostly responsible, but evidence recovered by detectives implicates both men in sexual assault – and McGowan-Fazakerley, failing to protect him, Mr Wright said.

On the day he died at the time of or shortly before the final fatal assault, Varley had sexually assaulted the baby causing internal injuries, while home alone with the child and his co-accused out at work, it was alleged.

After Varley’s arrest and mobile phone was seized, footage was found that he had recorded earlier that day of the little boy lying on a bed with physical and obvious signs of respiratory arrest, but the defendant did not attempt recovery or seek medical help.

Preston, wearing a babygrow and lying on a double bed, appears to have suffered a collapse and is in recovery from a period of not breathing, the court was told.

His lips had a bluish hue, which a consultant concluded was the tell-tale sign of a respiratory failure.

Varley remains silent through the video clip and did not try to get any help or assist the child, the jury was told.

It was only later that both defendants took Preston to hospital, by which time it was too late to save him.

While McGowan-Fazakerley was out at work when Varley is said to have fatally assaulted him, jurors were told he had joint responsibility for caring for the child, had daily contact and should have been aware of what was going on and protected the youngster.

But not only was he aware of the abuse, he participated in it, Mr Wright said.

Varley denies murder, manslaughter, 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.

McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.

The trial continues.

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