Teacher ‘had dark thoughts about abused baby’

A former high school teacher allegedly involved in the sexual abuse and murder of a baby boy revealed troubling thoughts about the child to a colleague, according to court testimony.

Jamie Varley, 37, faces charges of murdering 13-month-old Preston Davey, alongside 25 additional counts of sexual and physical abuse. His partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, is accused of contributing to the child’s death and four other offenses, including sexual assault and cruelty. Both defendants maintain their innocence, with the alleged crimes spanning March to July 27, 2023.

The court heard that during the child’s time in their care, Preston endured regular mistreatment, including the taking of indecent images and videos. He was also subjected to sexual abuse, physical assaults, and 40 traumatic injuries. On the second day of the trial, which is expected to last several weeks, Peter Wright KC, the prosecutor, described how Varley had shared his concerns with a work colleague a month before the child’s death.

“He disclosed to her that he had harmful thoughts towards Elijah and had thoughts of drowning him or of suffocating him but that he would never carry them out,” Wright stated.

Varley, who previously served as a head of year at a Blackpool school, had confided in the colleague about his struggle to form a bond with the child, whom he had renamed Elijah. This conversation occurred as part of welfare checks by his employer and social workers. It wasn’t until after Preston’s death that the colleague reported the remarks to authorities.

Preston was born on June 16, 2022, and placed under the care of Oldham Council before being adopted by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley. The couple had applied to Adoption Now, an organization managing adoptions for local authorities in northwest England. The child was nine months old when he was entrusted to them, living at their Blackpool home on Staining Road.

Throughout the four months of care, Preston was hospitalized three times with injuries. His death on July 27, 2023, occurred while Varley was alone with him. The court was told that he recorded a video of the child, who was lying on a double bed wearing a babygrow. The child appeared to collapse and was in a state of respiratory distress, with bluish lips indicating possible suffocation or drowning.

Varley claimed he had placed Preston in a bath chair and left him for four minutes before returning to find him drowning. However, the child was dry, had dry hair, and no signs of water ingestion. A Home Office post-mortem revealed non-accidental injuries, including bruises and grazes across multiple body parts, as well as damage to the mouth, throat, and bottom. The findings indicated the cause of death was acute upper airways obstruction, likely from smothering or an object in the mouth.

Wright emphasized that both defendants had a sexual interest in the child. While Varley is charged with murder, the prosecutor argued that McGowan-Fazakerley could have intervened to prevent the abuse and stop the escalating cruelty. Varley’s account of the incident, described as “hysterical” and self-blaming, is seen as an attempt to obscure the truth.