Teacher had ‘harmful thoughts’ as Preston Davey murder trial continues

Janet Gee said Jamie Varley, 37, who she worked with at a high school, allegedly told her he was struggling to cope with looking after the baby, 13-month-old Preston Davey, he had adopted with his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.

The baby died less than four months after being placed with the couple in Blackpool. Varley is now on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of sexual abuse and murder.

Mrs Gee said on one occasion, Varley arrived at her house with the baby, very flustered and agitated with Preston having a blue plaster cast on his arm, a court heard.

Mrs Gee said: “He told me how he was having harmful thoughts towards the baby in terms of drowning or suffocation.

“He was still agitated at this point.

“He was very quick to say this was something he was not going to act upon.

“I believed him, I have children of my own and sometimes your thoughts go to dark places.”

Mrs Gee said Varley told her he had been putting the baby down and dropped him by accident, causing the injury to his arm.

But after Preston’s death, Mrs Gee alleges that Varley gave a different explanation for the injury, the court heard.

She said: “The inconsistency was around the cot, the first instance was he dropped him, the second was he had his arm out of the cot and hurt it. So, no consistency.”

Preston Davey was born on June 16, 2022, and taken into care by Oldham Council, and placed with foster parents at five days old.

After an adoption assessment, he moved in with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley on April 1, 2023.

Varley, who worked as a design and technology technician at South Shore Academy in Blackpool before training to become a teacher, took a year off to care for Preston.

During the months leading up to Preston’s death, it is alleged that he was routinely abused, with indecent images and videos reportedly taken of him.

The prosecution claims the child suffered 40 traumatic injuries.

Preston was taken to hospital three times in the months before his death, including once for a fractured left elbow.

On July 27, 2023, Preston was taken to hospital unconscious and in cardiac arrest and could not be revived.

Varley allegedly told Mrs Gee he had left the child in the bath to fetch a towel and returned to find Preston face down in the water.

She said: “It was as soon as I made contact, he said, ‘Jan, I promise you, I didn’t do anything’ and went on to give an account of that day.”

The court heard that medical staff at Blackpool Victoria Infirmary found the child dry, with dry hair and no signs of having swallowed water.

A Home Office post-mortem examination found multiple non-accidental, internal and external injuries.

There were bruises and grazes to his head, face and mouth, upper limbs, chest, back and left thigh.

Preston also had injuries to his mouth, throat and bottom.

There was no evidence to support drowning, the court heard, and a pathologist gave the cause of death as acute upper airways obstruction by either smothering or an object or objects inserted into his mouth.

Varley denies murder, manslaughter, 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 photos or videos of a child, one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, to his co-accused, and one of making an indecent photo.

McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.

The trial has been adjourned until Thursday morning.