The mother of a murdered 13-month-old baby has said she will never forgive his adoptive parents for their crimes, adding “the reality of how he suffered is something I will carry for the rest of my life”.
High school teacher Jamie Varley, 37, is facing a mandatory life sentence for the murder of Preston Davey, whom he adopted at nine months old with his partner, ex-public schoolboy and financial sales manager John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.
In the four months he was in their care, Preston was routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him, and was sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering 40 traumatic injuries.
Preston had been taken from his mother, Sarah Davey, now 42, by an emergency care order by Oldham Council.At 14, Ms Davey was jailed for the “unspeakably wicked” murder of a frail pensioner in 1998 and has been in and out of prison since then.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Davey described the day Preston was taken from her as one of the worst of her life.
She said: “I had no choice in that decision. I tried to take some comfort in believing he would be safe, loved, and protected, and he was with his foster parents, Sandra and Paul (Cooper), I trusted them, they and the system trusted you, that trust was completely and unforgivably broken.”
She added: “I will never forgive you for what you did to my son and what you stopped him from becoming and achieving in his life.
“Every single day, I live with the unimaginable pain of wondering what he went through. Those thoughts do not leave me. 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.”
Ms Davey said her son was “failed by the very people who were supposed to protect (him)” and called for the seriousness of the crimes to be “fully recognised”.In his victim impact statement, Preston’s biological father, Gary Nolan, told of his grief at hearing the news of his son’s death.“Hysterical and crying”, Mr Nolan was admitted to hospital for his own safety and still takes medication to help manage his anxiety and depression.
He said: “Preston was my first and only son. The fact that he has been taken away from me has stopped me from having a father-son relationship.“I was looking forward to doing the simple things with him, playing football, teaching him how to ride a bike, having him ask me for help, seeing him learn to drive and of course celebrating his birthdays.“This has deprived my three daughters and me of ever having these opportunities.”
Sarah Cooper, who fostered Preston alongside her husband Paul, said his death had a “huge impact” on their lives and is the reason why they decided not to retire from fostering.
She said: “We felt we had a duty to other children and could not sit back and enjoy ourselves knowing that other children were being abused, mistreated and could die.“My husband Paul and I have continued to foster children to protect them. We are doing this for Preston, in his memory.”Mr Cooper said: “As a foster carer, you have to put so much trust in the system and the persons responsible for caring for a child.
“What happened to Preston has caused me to lose that trust, thus affecting me socially and through being a foster carer. I don’t see being a foster carer as an ’employment’, more like a vocation.“Preston had his whole life ahead of him, one that should have been a happy life with a new family. I will never ever forget him. I cannot express enough the pain that I am going through to even speak about this and the way his life was cut so short. I will never forget you Preston.”
Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved for adoption in January 2023 and Preston began living at their home in Blackpool, Lancashire, in April 2023.Following an eight-week trial, both men were convicted by a jury at Preston Crown Court on Monday.Varley was found guilty of murder, 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 was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.
The trial heard Preston had been taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times in the months before his death, on April 27 2023, and was seen by a “battery of professionals” during his life, including multiple social workers, health visitors and medics.A social services investigation is under way.Mr Justice Turner will pass sentence on Thursday morning.
