A teacher who sexually abused and murdered the 13-month-old baby boy he adopted with his partner has been told he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Preston Davey died in July 2023 at the hands of Jamie Varley, 37, who subjected the child to physical, sexual and emotional abuse during the final four months of his life.

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, who was found guilty of sexual assault, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child, was sentenced to 25 years.

A whole life order means that Varley will never be released from prison, except in exceptional compassionate circumstances.

Warning: This article contains distressing information
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Turner said Preston had faced “unremitting abuse” and neglect before being killed by Varley during a sex attack.

Turning to Varley, he said: “It was you who did this. You murdered him.

“A whole life order is a sentence of last resort for cases of the most extreme gravity.

“This is a case of the most extreme gravity. You must stay in prison for the rest of your life. You will never be eligible for parole.”

Preston’s biological mother and grandmother, Sarah and Debbie Davey, were sitting in the public gallery and sobbed throughout the hearing.

In a victim impact statement read out on behalf of Sarah Davey, she said she now lived with the “unimaginable pain of wondering” what her son went through in the final months of his life.

“Those thoughts do not leave me,” she said.

“They are with me when I wake up, and they haunt me when I try to sleep.

“The reality of how he suffered is something I will carry for the rest of my life.
“I will never forgive you for what you did to my son and what you stopped him from becoming and achieving in his life.”

In a statement read out on behalf of Gary Nolan, the baby’s biological father, he said: “Preston was the son that I never got to meet and now never will.

“Upon hearing the news, I remember officers taking hold of me and me blanking out, the next thing I recall is waking up in hospital two days later.

“I am told that I was hysterical and crying and that it was for my own safety that I was taken to the hospital, clearly, I must have been in a bad place mentally.”

As it happened: The sentencing of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley
Sandra Cooper, Preston’s foster mum, told the court he was “joyful, so content and happy, with sparkly smiling eyes”.

“That is how we want to remember him,” she said.

Her husband Paul told the court: “Saying goodbye to [Preston] and handing him over to Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley was extremely difficult.

“However, we believed at the time that this was the best thing for Preston and he was going to a loving family.

“What happened after this I still cannot bear to think about.”