Top cop brands killer Blackpool teacher and partner branded 'pure evil' over death of baby Preston Davey

A Blackpool couple responsible for the death of a baby they were in the process of adopting have been branded ‘pure evil’.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fallows, the lead detective who has dedicated the last three years of his working life to seeking justice for Preston Davey cruelly betrayed by those who should have protected him, said the pair’s ‘sordid and wicked acts’ left the 13-month-old ‘a broken shell’.

A jury at Preston Crown Court took just over two days to unanimously find both ex-South Shore Academy teacher Jamie Varley, 37, and his now ex-partner and financial salesman John McGowan-Fazakerley guilty on all counts.

DCI Fallows, of Lancashire Police’s Force Major Investigation Team described the investigation into the murder and sexual and emotional abuse of baby Preston as the ‘most harrowing case of his career’.

Speaking ahead of the ‘evil’ couple’s sentencing tomorrow, DCI Fallows said: “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.

“I would like to thank the team of detectives, uniformed officers and members of police staff who have worked tirelessly to compile the evidence that has resulted today’s guilty verdicts.

“I would also like to thank the jury for their considered verdicts, the Crown Prosecution Service and our counsel Peter Wrights KC and Simon Driver.

“Throughout this trial we have tried to ensure the focus remained on baby Preston Davey, a little boy who was physically, sexually and psychologically abused by two individuals who were supposed to love and care for him.

“While I understand the focus in the media will go elsewhere, I would ask that Preston is not forgotten in your coverage.”

Textiles teacher Varley was found guilty of: murder; two counts of sexual assault of a male child under 13; inflicting grievous bodily harm; four counts of cruelty to a person under 16; 10 counts of taking indecent images of a child; two counts of possessing indecent images of a child and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child.

McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was found guilty 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.

Preston Davey was born on 16 June 2022; he was nine months old when he was placed with Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley with a view to his adoption at their home is Staining Road, Staining.

Four months later, Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley took Preston to Blackpool Victoria Hospital around 6:30pm on 27 July 2023. He was unconscious and in cardiac arrest.

Despite the best efforts of medical professionals, Preston was pronounced dead just under an hour later.

A post-mortem concluded that the cause of Preston’s death was acute upper airway obstruction, meaning he had been smothered or something had been inserted into his mouth that had caused the obstruction.

Preston had been in the sole care of Varley that day until McGowan-Fazakerley returned from work and the couple took Preston to the hospital.

The evidence gathered showed that Preston suffered greatly at the hands of his primary carer, Varley, while McGowan-Fazakerley, who had been involved in the sexual assault of Preston, had failed to protect him from physical and psychological harm.

Karen Tonge for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This has been one of the most shocking and horrific cases I have dealt with in my career.

“Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley had a responsibility to care for and protect baby Preston. They violated that responsibility and 13-month-old Preston was abused with sickening ease.

“It is difficult to comprehend how the very people who should have loved him could inflict such sickening physical and sexual harm on an innocent child.

“No child should have to go through what Preston went through in the last four months of his short life and I cannot begin to imagine the toll this has taken on those that loved Preston. My thoughts remain with them all.”

The CPS on building the case

To charge and prosecute a case of murder, prosecutors had to prove that Varley had intended to kill or commit serious harm to baby Preston and that it was his actions that caused Preston’s death.

Although Varley claimed that he had not caused Preston any harm, experts confirmed that Preston’s condition could not have been caused by accidental drowning in the bath, as Varley claimed, or any other natural cause.

Preston had around 40 injuries, including bruising to his mouth, throat, bowel and bladder along with a healing fracture to his left arm which was deemed to be non-accidental. These injuries painted a heartbreaking picture of Preston’s time in the care of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.

To secure a guilty verdict for murder and the other charges faced by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, prosecutors built a compelling case including phone evidence showing instances of child cruelty.

Expert evidence proved that Varley had also taken indecent images and videos of Preston, which were stored on his phone.

Medical evidence showed that injuries to Preston’s body were consistent with sexual assault shortly before his tragic death and sometime in the weeks before his death.

Ultimately a wealth of evidence was presented to the jury who found Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley guilty of the crimes against baby Preston.