A foster mother who looked after a baby boy for the first ten months of his life told a court she had a “gut feeling something was wrong” after he was placed with the two men who are now accused of sexually abusing and murdering him.
Sandra Cooper, who has fostered 43 children over 27 years, cared for Preston Davey from when he was five days old until he went to live with Jamie Varley, 37, and John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, on April 3, 2023. She described Preston as a “beautiful, happy, lovable baby” who “loved cuddles” and was having “a really nice life” in her home.
But after the adoption placement, Mrs Cooper told Preston Crown Court that planned visits to see the child were repeatedly made difficult by the defendants. She felt they were “hiding him from me” and eventually complained to a social worker. “I was worried. I felt like something is wrong,” she said. “It’s just my, call it gut feeling. I felt like something was wrong.”
She eventually secured a visit – the last time she saw Preston alive. “It was made difficult for us, but I would’ve walked to the ends of the earth for that visit,” she said. “He just looked a bit stiff, a bit blank, but we had not seen him for a while. I was just really glad to see him.”
Allegations of systematic abuse
Varley, a former secondary school teacher and head of year at South Shore Academy in Blackpool, and McGowan-Fazakerley, a salesman, were in the process of adopting Preston and had completed stage two of the adoption process in January 2023. Both men deny all charges against them.
Prosecutor Peter Wright KC told the jury that despite Preston having had “more than its share of misfortune” in his short life, he was a “perfectly healthy boy” before entering the defendants’ care. Over the final four months of his life – between March and July 2023 – the prosecution alleges he was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering approximately 40 traumatic injuries.
A Home Office post-mortem examination found multiple non-accidental internal and external injuries. These included 30 external bruises and grazes to his head, face, mouth, upper limbs, chest, back and left thigh, as well as a fracture to his upper left arm. There were also injuries to his mouth, throat and bottom, with internal bruising.
The cause of death was given as acute upper airways obstruction, resulting either from smothering – most likely with a hand or soft fabric – or by the insertion of an object or objects into his mouth. Mr Wright said there was no evidence to support natural disease or drowning as the cause, and the internal injuries were caused shortly before death.
On the day he died, July 27, 2023, Varley is alleged to have sexually assaulted the baby, causing internal injuries, while home alone with the child and his co-accused out at work. Mr Wright said Varley was “mostly responsible” for the fatal assault, but that evidence implicates both men in sexual abuse and McGowan-Fazakerley in failing to protect Preston.
The events of July 27
At about 6.30pm that evening, Preston was brought to the Accident and Emergency Department of Blackpool Victoria Hospital. He was unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest. Medics tried to revive him but he was pronounced dead within an hour.
Varley initially claimed he had put the child in a baby chair in the bath, then left him for around four minutes. He said that when he returned the child was drowning and that he was “hysterical” and blaming himself. The prosecution says this was all a “cover up” act. Mr Wright told the court that Preston was in fact dry, had dry hair and did not appear to have swallowed any water.
After Varley’s arrest, his mobile phone was seized. Footage was found that he had recorded earlier that day showing the little boy lying on a bed with physical and obvious signs of respiratory arrest. The court was told that Preston, wearing a babygrow, appeared to have suffered a collapse and was in recovery from a period of not breathing. His lips had a bluish hue – which a consultant concluded was the tell-tale sign of respiratory failure. Varley remains silent through the video clip for 14 minutes and did not attempt any recovery or seek medical help. It was only later that both defendants took Preston to hospital, by which time it was too late to save him.
Mr Wright warned jurors that they would have to “steel themselves” because they would view images of Preston alleged to have been taken before and after he had been sexually assaulted. He described the case as “inevitably a highly emotionally charged case” and “a terrible case because it involves the death of a very, very young child”.
While McGowan-Fazakerley was out at work when Varley is said to have fatally assaulted the child, the prosecution argues he had joint responsibility for caring for Preston, had daily contact and should have been aware of what was going on and protected the youngster. Mr Wright said not only was he aware of the abuse, he participated in it.
Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of cruelty to a child, inflicting grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one count of distributing an indecent photo of a child (to his co-accused), and one count of making an indecent photo – a total of 33 charges.
McGowan-Fazakerley denies causing or allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of sexual assault of a child.
The trial continues.
