Former teacher guilty of sexually abusing and murdering baby boy he wanted to adopt - CPS

[IwantToRetire]

Distressing content
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A former teacher has been found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering a baby boy that he planned to adopt.

Jamie Varley, 37, was convicted at Preston Crown Court of murder, child cruelty, sexual offences and indecent images relating to 13-month-old Preston Davey.

John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was convicted of allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and sexual assault.

Varley was in the process of adopting baby Preston (also known as Elijah) with his partner McGowan-Fazakerley. Just four months after being placed with the couple, Preston was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital unconscious and in cardiac arrest. Sadly, Preston could not be saved.

Varley tried falsely claiming that Preston had accidentally drowned in a bath, but prosecutors were able to prove that his injuries were consistent with his airways being obstructed.

The evidence presented by the prosecution proved that in the final months of Preston’s life, he was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted – suffering more than 40 separate injuries.

CPS statement continues at https://www.cps.gov.uk/north-west/news/former-teacher-guilty-sexually-abusing-and-murdering-baby-boy-he-wanted-adopt

More from a BBC report - also distressing:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyp77l79e9o

I thought there was a thread about this, but cant find one. But sorry if a duplicate.

I really only wanted to post out of respect for this poor baby and the horror of his short life.

RIP

I'd have thought so...

I do think comments mentioning disturbing things the murderers said are overlooking that at least some of these comments were not made to social workers (unsurprisingly) so could not have been flagged up.
The comment about 'dead meat' was made to one of the men's sisters- how could the social workers have known about this comment unless she reported it?

Similarly, the comment about dark thoughts about harming Preston was made to a work colleague: why did they not report it?

Otoh I am surprised these 3 injuries were all dismissed : why were the videos accepted as evidence unquestioned?

Preston is rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital at 11:10, floppy and unresponsive with Varley reporting a seizure and breathing difficulties.

Nursing staff notice bruising to Preston's head.

A medical report states Preston had "unexplained injuries, inconsistent with a version of events given…"

Hospital safeguarding are informed and social services and Lancashire Police called.

Following discussions with medical staff, the bruises to a baby learning to walk are not regarded as suspicious.

30 June, 2023

At about 20:25, Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley take Preston to Blackpool Victoria Hospital A&E Department, reporting the child has a rash, diarrhoea, vomiting and high temperature.

Medics note bruising to Preston's head, but staff are shown a home video of the child pulling a toy box on to himself while playing, by way of explanation.

Varley comments: "You lot are going to think we have been abusing him or something."

It is later discovered the toy box video was filmed 12 days earlier.

6 July, 2023

Varley takes Preston to hospital at 10:40 for third time with injury to his left arm.

He said it was sustained while putting him in his cot the previous evening.

After an X-ray, a cast is applied for a fractured elbow.

The child's social worker, Amy Shepherdson, who had been in contact with the hospital, texted Varley to say: "Just to reassure you they said they had absolutely no concerns. U absolutely did the right thing."

She visits the home and notes Preston had a "very sad face and a little cry"

Er, yes it absolutely is.

Fucking hell.

'The red flag to me is "dead meat". As well as basic red flag and pattern recognition, which a great many of us are familiar with, even if it seems that sadly a number of the professionals in Preston's case were not.'

-That terrible comment was made by Vardy to his sister. How could the social workers have known about the comment unless she reported it? The sister is the one at fault here.

The social workers seem to have made serious errors in other aspects.

I agree, which is why we're not just talking about one person but joined up thinking. Which i'd be pretty certain will be a major theme that comes out of this.

For instance, yes, I agree that some of this should have been flagged up to SW.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. As many on this particular board know, you either get this or you don't.

Yes, definitely: it seems to have been a collective failing, with social workers, hospital staff, the sister & the work colleague all overlooking red flags.

It’s sickening I can’t fathom anyone dong this to a baby.
How did two sick perverts get their hands on him …😢

Well, therin lies the crux of the matter, sadly. Multiple factors and catastrophic for poor Preston.

It's too horrific and shockingly unbelievable to process.
I am so sorry for the poor baby
RIP precious angel
I hope the 2 predators die in prison.

Yes, I think there needs to be caution with adoption especially of preverbal children like Preston by gay male couples or single men.

For that matter, more questions I think should be asked about sperm donation cases which result in children being raised by men with no biological connection. Obviously most men like this are fine, but is there an elevated rate of abuse? No study has been done, for some reason.

This reminds me of this thread. Many pps chide the OP but her suspicion seems warranted to me.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/feminism/5154823-single-man-adopting-a-girl-with-downs-syndrome

Unfortunately evil predators can be very good actors...

The broken arm & other injuries should definitely have been red flags that could have saved Preston though.

This.

I can understand privately wanting these vile men to be harmed but do people really want a world where prisoners can commit murders and rapes within the prison with impunity? As you say, prison assaults ultimately harm staff- if prisoners can't be controlled, staff are not safe.

I just can't 'go there' in my head as I can't process such evil either...it's truly truly horrific. That poor, precious innocent boy must have experienced hell on earth :(
I just cannot wrap my head around it. Those 2 are literally evil incarnate :(

Except this wasn't a 6 or more year old child with behavioural issues - this was a baby - exactly the age that adoptive parents nealry all want, so TBF most of your post is irrelevant. It's practically impossible that nobody else wanted this baby, and given what happened to him, a general "adoption is better" is not really the point either. Adoption wasn't better because something disastrous happened with both the original selection system and the follow up, and the authorities need to find out what is going wrong with their procedures that this can happen.

I'm not accusing them of "wokery", nor of anything specific - but I do think it's important to ensure that the response from the authorities involved is not allowed to be just CYA.

For that reason, I wouldn't be happy with just saying we don't know. We don't know - but maybe that's deliberate. At the very least, the public needs to know what went wrong and why. Because if nobody knows, what's to stop it happeneing again? In fact, who knows whether other adopted/fostered children aren't also suffering repeated sexual abuse even now, but just because they haven't actually died, nobody in charge cares enough to find out?

As an adoptive parent of nearly 20 years, I am reading these threads through my fingers. I am a single adoptive parent of two non-birth-related children, both of whom have complex needs, neurodivergences and, in one case, a profound sensory impairment due to in utero exposure to drugs and alcohol. There has been lots of witch-hunting on MN about this case, including multiple posts in favour of all adoptive parents being subject to spot checks of our devices by the state and/or police. I really appreciate your comment about the need for there to be more support for us. Because there is basically none. And what there was has been virtually halved by the Labour government. (A special fund called the Adoption and Special Guardianship Fund, which was established by a previous Tory administration in recognition of the fact that extreme trauma needs skilled therapeutic input, has been cut to the bone by Josh MacAlister). A new report out today, the Adoption UK Barometer 2026, highlights that 41 per cent of adoptive families are living in crisis. Personally, I have lived with child-on-parent violence and abuse for years, I have been arrested and detained in custody on false allegations of common assault by my AD1 who lives with mental health difficulties, I was subsequently put through child protection proceedings by my LA. My crime? Asking for my troubled teen to go back into care because I could not and cannot trust that she won’t continue to make false accusations. Adoption has cost me my career, my mental health, extended family relationships and friendships (because everyone is apparently an expert on society’s most vulnerable children). I apologise for going off at a tangent, but my biggest question in this case is what the hell went so badly wrong for this family in the early weeks of placement? I’m not making any excuses. But adoption is hard, the support is absolutely minimal, the scrutiny is intensive and there is no joy in the process. Also, counter to the mantra that it takes a village to raise a child, in the early days and weeks of placement, you are actually encouraged not to meet with family and friends as you are meant to work on your bond/attachment with your child. This is massively isolating and post-adoption depression is a very real phenomenon. Jamie Varley did reach out to a colleague to say how hard he was finding being a parent. The thing is, when you’re an adopter, you’re not really allowed to voice these negative thoughts because you’re expected to be grateful and happy that your dreams have come true. Believe me, adoption is not a happy ever story. As I say, I’m not minimising at all what happened to Preston but I am left with personal disquiet about who heard how unhappy Jamie Varley was but didn’t really listen. There’s much to unpick here but if the social work practice was more attuned and professionally curious, then it could have been identified that the placement was not working and Preston could have been removed and, in an ideal world, give back to his previous foster carers.

All of that is true - I know personally of a couple of adoptions where the parents were really not helped, and like you say, were expected to be thrilled and take to it like a duck to water - and some cases where the adoptive parents were misled about the behavioural difficulties they were taking on.

Still, there 's a HUGE step from all of that to what he did to the child, and TBH I'm unconvinced that his "unhappiness" explains the sexual abuse. I can't see how that happened other than because that was always the plan.

Both can be true. The physical punishments may have been about being unhappy, but that's because it seems like they expected the baby to be a sex toy for them, not a person with needs and wants, and they were unhappy that they couldn't just put him to bed when they didn't want him for themselves.

I think the men showed an interest in adopting Preston specifically after seeing him in a list of available children. If rhis is correct, then they would have been driving for this particular child, and possibly swayed the SW with a great show of enthusiasm. .

I'm unconvinced that his "unhappiness" explains the sexual abuse

• exactly. Nobody sexually abuses a child because they're struggling with parenthood. The evil was present in Varley from the beginning..it must have been.

Generally, it’s the social worker who works on finding a match and who provides a written profile for prospective adopters to read. There are usually no photos attached to these.

Yes, me too, I've had friends have adoptions go wrong, the support given is absolutely minimal. It's just "get on with it" pretty much. Which isn't helpful for either child or adoptive parent and often traumatic for both. That is absolutely a failing in the system right now.

However, as you say, literally nobody r*pes a baby to death and starts abusing them within days because they're "struggling" with lack of sleep or the usual problems of an adoption placement. And JV knew that very well; he planned to try and use it as an excuse. Sorry, but suggesting that really is a staggering level of naivety about child rapists and child abuse in general.

As an aside, there are far too many "ordinary" men being found with thousands of images of what are termed "Cat A" images of child abuse they have downloaded to their computers to watch and masturbate to. Every real child they are watching being abused in those images is one like Preston and is having done to them pretty much what Preston did (we don't know about Varley's porn usage, police didn't find child porn,but extreme porn of other kinds. Doesn't mean it wasn't there, though, just that he was able to get rid of it). Sadly, this means that what happened to poor Preston is not as rare as people think, so worth bearing in mind also when such images get downplayed as "child porn". It's CSA, every time.

I agree, that's the usual, but I am sure I read something in one of their testimonies that they did in fact get to choose him from some sort of 'profile' that the adoption agency had.

You just entirely ignored my explanation of why a baby might not have multiple applicants seeking a match, including my own direct experience of just such a baby.

Sorry but that’s just not true. Lots of family finding is done through an online portal called Linkmaker with children’s profiles - not all have photos but most did when we were family finding and using it.

Which matches their testimony, then, and supports the idea that they got to "pick" a baby to abuse.

It was a Stonewall- supporting gay adoption agency. Not the routine local social workers. Foster mother and grandmother got on well. Grandmother just wanted a couple of months before her surgeon would let her lift. She already cares for the boy's sister.

Foster mother just wanted to keep the baby for those extra couple of months, beyond the stage when the normal routine would have reached the time when babies would normally have been taken from her and adopted.

Both women were keen to make the change of loving carer a smooth transition, and to keep in close touch with one another, and the baby. Someone has made a reasonable point that adoption agencies ought to be free from any ideological stance

It was a Stonewall- supporting gay adoption agency.

• why did this particular agency get involved with Preston's case? Why not a regular agency?