Teacher guilty of sexually abusing and murdering adopted baby

Teacher guilty of sexually abusing and murdering adopted baby 6 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Emma Stanley and Rachael Lazaro , North West Lancashire Police Jamie Varley was convicted following a trial at Preston Crown Court A teacher has been found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering the 13-month-old baby boy he adopted with his partner. Preston Davey died in July 2023 at the hands of Jamie Varley, 37, who took a year off work to adopt him. Varley, from Blackpool, told police Preston had accidentally drowned in a bath, but a post-mortem examination discovered the child had suffered 40 injuries. His partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, has been found guilty of sexual assault, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child. The pair will be sentenced on Thursday. Warning: This article contains distressing information Preston was adopted by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, a financial sales manager, in April 2023 and in the next four months he suffered sexual abuse and ill-treatment, the trial at Preston Crown Court heard. Preston was born in June 2022 and taken into care by Oldham Council. Handout Preston died in July 2023, four months after he was adopted Preston's mother, Sarah Davey, now 42, had been jailed at the age of 14 for the murder of a frail pensioner in 1998 and had been in and out of prison since then. In court, his mother and grandmother sobbed throughout as the 29 guilty verdicts were returned. Preston was placed with foster parents at five days old, remaining with them for the first 10 months of his life. How adoptive parents' lies unravelled to reveal 'reign of terror' Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved for adoption and Preston began living at their home in Blackpool in April 2023, when he was nine months old. But in the just under four months he was in their care, he was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering 40 traumatic injuries. He also had indecent images and videos taken of him. Lancashire Police McGowan-Fazakerley was found guilty of sexual assault, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child The trial heard Preston had been taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times in the months before his death with suspicious bruises noticed by medical staff, but these were explained away. Preston had also been seen by several social workers. Varley rushed Preston to hospital for a final time on 27 July, unresponsive. He claimed to have left the child in the bath for a couple of minutes and returned to find him submerged. But the trial heard Preston's hair was dry, he had a nappy on and he did not appear to have swallowed any water. A Home Office post-mortem examination ruled out drowning as the cause of death, with the cause found to be acute upper airways obstruction by an object or objects inserted into his mouth. 'Pure evil' Varley stood in the dock and put his hands to his face as the guilty verdicts were read out, before collapsing to his knees, retching