A gay couple are accused of subjecting a male infant they were in the process of adopting to a campaign of sexual abuse and mistreatment before he was brought unresponsive to a UK hospital and pronounced dead.
Members of the public are reported to have “sobbed” and left the courtroom as they heard details of the injuries suffered by the little boy before his death.
13-month-old Preston Davey, who was in the care of the State, died on the 27th of July 2023.
Former teacher, Jamie Varley, 36, of Grimsargh in Lancashire, has been charged with the murder of the baby, in addition to a series of serious sexual and child cruelty offences.
His boyfriend, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 31, of Grimsargh in Lancashire, is charged with allowing the death of a child, in addition to child cruelty and sexual offences.
Both men are on trial before Preston Crown Court, where evidence was given that the infant had suffered various injuries, which led him to be admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times.
This included breathing difficulties, seizures, nose bleeds, and an injury later found to be a fracture to the elbow. Although staff had taken note of bruises on the little boy’s face, these were ‘explained away’ by the gay couple.
The infant, who had been placed in the care of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley only four months before his death, was being subjected to a regime of mistreatment, sexual abuse and assault, the court heard.
On the evening the baby died, he had been brought to hospital ‘unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest’ at 6.30 pm before being pronounced dead 48 minutes later despite efforts to save him.
Little Preston was in the custody of Varley at the time of the final alleged assault, but should have been aware of the danger he was in, the court heard.
The court heard that when the infant was struggling for air, instead of calling for help, Barely made a video of him where the child appeared to have blue lips.
It was only when McGowan-Fazakerley returned home from work in Manchester that help was sought, the court heard. There were other “indecent” videos of the child which had been recorded previously, as well as a collection of photographs which were described as not typical ‘doting’ parent photographs, the court heard.
Prosecutors alleged that four days before his death, both men had assaulted the infant in his cot, with McGowan-Fazakerley’s DNA found close by.
It was also argued that Varley sent a video commenting on the infant’s anatomy to his boyfriend.
The court heard of other incidents of neglect, including a 14-minute video of the infant left unattended, “slithering around in a bath”, it was argued.
Another showed little Preston being “violently spun on a kid’s teacup ride, which left the baby “disoriented”. This act of alleged mistreatment was so “amusing” to Varley that he later set it to the fabulous Kylie Minguse song “Spinning Around”.
Videos were also made of the baby being subjected to sleep deprivation, sudden noises and loud music, including a song from the Disney film Moana, the court heard.
The prosecution argued that “warning signs” of abuse were all plain to see but were “unaddressed” and “unchallenged”.
The court heard that neighbours had heard crying and shouting from the gay couple’s home, but that they had explained this away, even making visits to say that they were having difficulty in their new role as parents.
After a few months of visits, the infant was handed over to the men in April 2023, but by May, he was brought to hospital with a nosebleed, having suffered a seizure and experiencing breathing difficulties, which was attributed to a chest infection, the court heard.
The following June, he was brought to hospital again, supposedly because of a fever, but when bruising was noticed on his body, this was blamed on a toy box falling on him, and an old video of the supposed incident was played to staff who were told he bruised easily.
One week later, the child was brought to hospital again, this time with a broken elbow, for which Varley gave a number of “wholly contradictory” explanations, saying an “accident” had taken place.
Varley denies charges of murder, sexual assault, assault by penetration, inflicting grievous bodily harm for breaking Preston’s elbow, four counts of child cruelty, 14 counts of making and taking indecent images of a child, and one charge of distributing an indecent image of a child.
McGowan-Fazakerley denies causing or allowing the death of a child and two counts of child cruelty. Both men are also charged with two counts of sexual assault and cruelty to Preston.
The trial continues.