John McGowan-Fazakerley says he never questioned Jamie Varley’s devotion Preston Davey
A man accused of allowing the death of his 13-month old adopted son told a jury his trust in his murder accused partner was ‘misplaced’. John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, said he never considered Preston Davey was at risk of physical or sexual abuse from 38-year-old Jamie Varley.
Mr Varley is also on trial, and is accused of murdering the young child. On July 27, 2023, Preston was carried into Blackpool Victoria Hospital in cardiac and respiratory arrest. He died at 7.20pm.
A post mortem concluded Preston died from upper airways obstruction with experts stating he had been physically, psychologically and sexually abused in the four months he lived with the couple in Staining Road, Blackpool, the court heard.
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Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, said the risk to Preston was ‘foreseeable and indeed foreseen’ by the defendant four days earlier when it is alleged both men sexually abused the toddler in his cot, LancsLive reported.
A series of photos recovered from Mr Varley’s phone showed Preston ‘suspended’ over his cot bars. His lips were turning gradually blue in what the prosecution say was the aftermath of a serious sexual assault, the court was told.
Mr McGowan-Fazakerley denied any form of sexual involvement with Preston and said he only saw the baby ‘fleetingly’ when he was called upstairs to see the ‘funny position’ Preston was in.
He said he told his partner to lie Preston down before returning downstairs to cook Sunday dinner. He only saw the photos when he was questioned by the police two years later, he said.
On his second day in the witness box, McGowan-Fazakerley said he ‘never questioned Mr Varley’s devotion to their adoptive son’. Mr Wright KC, prosecuting, showed a series of photos and videos which he suggested showed Mr Varley treating the tot as ‘a plaything.’
Mr McGowan-Fazakerley said: “I feel as if there’s information, messages, videos, pictures, that I wasn’t aware of. I feel at times that he’s prevented me from protecting him and doing something about it.”
When asked about a video recorded hours before Preston’s death, which showed the baby seriously unwell, he said: “Preston’s life was like an iceberg and there are things under the water that I didn’t know about.
“I feel… I feel that on the 27th July, that when Jamie took the video of him being poorly, I feel like if that was me and I saw that I would have acted, I would have took him to hospital….”
He said Mr Varley was his ‘best friend’ and he always felt they were honest with their thoughts and feelings. He said he did not see any signs of depression and was not aware of any ‘dark thoughts’ of drowning or suffocating the baby, as reported by a work colleague of Mr Varley’s earlier in the trial.
Mr Wright KC said: “I’m going to suggest what happened to that little boy was both foreseeable by you and indeed foreseen. That’s the truth, isn’t it? Mr McGowan-Fazakerley replied: “No it isn’t. If I could have foreseen that happening and foresaw that happening it wouldn’t have happened. I would have took that little boy out.”
Asked by his own barrister, Anne Whyte KC whether he felt his trust in his partner of eight years was misplaced, the defendant replied: “Yes, I do feel like my trust in Jamie has been misplaced.”
Mr Varley, 38, is accused of murder; manslaughter; sexual assault of a child under 13; inflicting grievous bodily harm; five counts of child cruelty; and further counts of making, taking and distributing indecent images.
Mr McGowan-Fazakerley is accused of causing or allowing the death of a child; two counts of child cruelty; and sexual assault of a child under 13. Both men deny all the charges against them.
The trial continues
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