Preston Davey: Gay Adoptive Couple Convicted After 13-Month-Old Was Sexually Assaulted, and Suffocated at Home
Warning: This post contains some distressing details of child abuse.
A jury at Preston Crown Court has found a gay couple guilty in the killing of 13-month-old Preston Davey. Authorities say the child was subjected to weeks of physical and sexual abuse inside his adoptive home before he was suffocated in July 2023.
Jamie Varley, 37, was convicted 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 photographs or videos of a child, one count of distributing an indecent image to his co-accused, and one count of making an indecent photograph.
His partner, 32-year-old John McGowan-Fazakerley, was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty, and one count of sexual assault.
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| Jamie Varley |
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| John McGowan-Fazakerley |
Preston was born on June 16, 2022, at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, four weeks earlier that his due date, but he was healthy.
His mother, Sarah Davey, had been imprisoned at 14 for murdering a pensioner and later struggled with substance abuse.
Because of those difficulties, Oldham council obtained an interim care order immediately, and the baby was placed with experienced foster carers Sandra and Paul Cooper, who had looked after more than 40 children over nearly three decades.
He was later diagnosed with a dairy allergy and reflux and slept poorly, yet he was described as thriving and having a “really nice life” in their care.
According to official records, Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley would go on to adopt him after he left the previous foster home, as per The Guardian.
Varley, who was also a textiles teacher and head of Year 11 at South Shore Academy in Blackpool, became the main caregiver, while McGowan-Fazakerley, who worked for a financial firm, was the primary earner.
They began their application in December 2021 and were approved in January 2023 through Adoption Now, a private agency handling adoptions for several North West local authorities.
After seeing Preston on the agency’s website, they visited him for the first time in February, and he was formally placed with them on April 4.
Within a few weeks, the adoptive couple stopped keeping in close touch with the foster carer, and their own life at home quickly became full of tension and serious problems.
Varley messaged friends saying he was struggling to cope with the baby’s constant waking, as Preston was used to waking up multiple times at night, and even his foster parents were aware of this.
On one of those days, he texted his sister saying, “He’s dead meat today,” while he texted another friend saying “I love him to bits but he is killing us.”
Neighbours also reported hearing raised voices, yet social workers who visited during this period said there were no serious concerns.
By Late May, a series of disturbing hospital trips began, and each time medical staff saw bruising on Preston’s body. On May 25, Varley took him to Blackpool Victoria Hospital reporting breathing difficulties and claimed the child had a possible seizure.
Nurses noticed bruises on either side of his forehead and alerted the hospital safeguarding team, who in turn informed Lancashire Constabulary.
Detectives reportedly attended to the matter, but they were told by medical staff there were no worries about non-accidental injury, so the officers left without seeing the baby or the two men. Social workers later maintained they were never formally told about safeguarding concerns from that visit.
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| Preston Davey |
In mid-June, while McGowan-Fazakerley was away on a business trip, Varley deliberately kept Preston awake with the Moana soundtrack blaring in the background, and he also recorded a video of the visibly exhausted child. At one point, as the child started to fall asleep, Varley shouted “boo” to frighten him awake.
He claimed that he took the footage to show the child was having a seizure, but prosecutors disagreed, and they called it a “trophy video” he made after he had sexually assaulted the little boy.
Other videos found on Varley’s phone showed him spinning Preston violently on a playground roundabout as Kylie Minogue’s “Spinning Around” played, and a 14-minute recording of the baby whimpering in a shallow bath with no comfort offered.
On June 30, Preston was back at hospital with a fever and a rash. Doctors again noted bruising, and Varley told them the child bruised easily and was clumsy. “You lot are going to think we have been abusing him or something,” he even jokingly remarked during that visit, as per hospital officials.
He tried to justify the bruises by showing the staff a video of Preston pulling a toy box onto his own head, however, that clip had been recorded 12 days earlier and could not explain the injuries.
Just days later, on July 6, the baby was admitted with a broken arm. This time, Varley told hospital staff that he may have accidentally twisted it while putting him back in his cot, but he gave a different account to friends.
Despite these injuries, a social worker visited the couple and later documented that a paediatrician had “absolutely no concerns.” Another social worker who visited on July 7 also recorded that she had watched Preston’s responses carefully and “decided there wasn’t” a problem.
Meanwhile, Varley was telling a fellow teacher he had not left the house in weeks, felt emotionless and upset, and thought he was a “s--- dad.” To another friend he wrote, “Can’t cope with any more hospital visits and social workers.”
The headteacher from his school visited and noted he was under strain but in good spirits, with no immediate alarm about his welfare. Around the same time, Varley confided to a close friend that he was having dark thoughts about harming the baby.
On July 23, four days before Preston died, Varley filmed the 11-month-old hanging over the rail of his cot, clearly in distress, with fluid coming from his mouth. Prosecutors said that video, too, was recorded after a sexual assault, and both men were at home at the time.
The day of his death, July 27, the couple left Preston with Varley’s mother while they met a mortgage adviser. Afterwards, McGowan-Fazakerley went to work in Salford Quays, and Varley collected the baby, returning home around 3 p.m.
Phone records show he was using his device until 4:37 p.m., then there was a seven-minute gap. Prosecutors suggested that was the window in which he sexually assaulted Preston and forced something into his mouth, blocking his airway and eventually causing his death.
When Varley picked up his phone again, he recorded a video of Preston lying on the bed struggling to breathe, then resumed messaging someone about selling a kayak.
McGowan-Fazakerley arrived home at 6:15 p.m. to a locked door. Once inside, he found Varley in distress and Preston on the floor being sick. Varley claimed he had been bathing the child, left for a couple of minutes to shower and change, and returned to find him underwater after slipping from his bath seat.
The two men drove to Blackpool Victoria Hospital in roughly two minutes, Varley barefoot and shouting “don’t let him die” and “I f------ killed him.” Medical staff noted the baby’s clothes, skin, and hair were dry, with no water coming from his nose or mouth, and they were immediately suspicious. Preston was in cardiac arrest and could not be revived; he was pronounced dead at 7:18 p.m.
A post-mortem examination found more than 40 external and internal bruises, internal injuries to his mouth and throat, bruising to his anus, bowel and bladder, lacerations to his anorectum, and a perforated bowel. One expert identified a bruise on his bottom that appeared to be a bite mark.
Police later recovered images and videos from Varley’s phone showing the baby’s bottom and private parts, which the prosecution said were taken for sexual gratification.
Preston’s maternal grandmother, Debbie Davey, who was unable to care for him after being diagnosed with breast cancer, said social workers missed clear chances to stop the abuse.
She recalled a social worker telling her Preston had been “a little weepy” after injections and simply accepted the adoptive fathers’ explanation. She pointed to the multiple hospital visits where bruising was seen and nothing was done, and to the broken arm that should have prompted urgent questions.
She also questioned whether fears of being accused of homophobia made professionals hesitate, saying, “They didn’t see through them and see what was going on to Preston.” She remains angry that the social worker involved is still working.
Both men were initially arrested on suspicion of child neglect, questioned, and released on bail. They later moved back in together, with McGowan-Fazakerley saying he was trying to “heal” his partner. In June of 2025, just before what would have been Preston’s third birthday, they were rearrested and charged with nearly 30 offences, according to CPS.
When the verdicts were read, Varley reporredly put his hands to his face, collapsed to his knees, and began retching and vomiting in the dock. McGowan-Fazakerley showed no visible reaction, though his father shook his head in the public gallery.
Oldham council described the case as “heart-wrenching and disturbing” and said an independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review is underway to examine how Preston’s safety was handled.
Adoption Now, the agency that arranged the adoption, said it follows “a strict and rigorous process” and added that its thoughts are with everyone affected by the crimes.
According to CPS, the couple are expected to be sentenced soon which will formally end the legal chapter in this case.
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