A baby boy, Preston Davey, was allegedly sexually abused and murdered by a teacher couple, Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley, who were adopting him with their boyfriend. According to the report, the infant had a human bite mark on his body six weeks before he died. As the report says, Preston was aged nine months when he was placed in the care of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley in April 2023.

The 40 Separate Injuries and Human Bite Mark

A post-mortem found that Preston had suffered 40 separate injuries, including severe bruising to the back of his throat. Pathologist Dr Alison Armour, who carried out the autopsy on Preston, said a 'purple-brownish' circular bruise, with a 'sparing' or 'un-involvement' of skin at the centre, could clearly be seen on his right buttock.. As Dr Armour noted, 'It's my view that this most likely represents a human bite mark.' The report says that this bite mark was found six weeks before Preston's death.

The Charges Against Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley

Former secondary school teacher Jamie Varley denies a total of 25 charges, while his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley has pleaded not guilty to five charges. According to the report, Varley denies murder, sexual assault, assault by penetration, inflicting GBH, four counts of child cruelty, 14 counts of making and taking indecent images of a child, and one charge of distributing an indcent image of a child. As the report says , McGowan-Fazakerley denies causing or allowing the death of a child and two counts of child cruelty.

The Investigation and Trial

Preston Crown Court has been told that the infant was 'routinely ill-treated, sexually abused, and physically assaulted' before being smothered. The jury was shown a photograph of the tot standing naked in a paddling pool, in June 2023.. CCTV at Blackpool Victoria Hospital showed a paramedic carrying Preston inside on July 27, 2023, with Varley and his partner following closely behind. as the report notes, the pair face two further joint charges of sexual assault and child cruelty.