Jamie Varley, a 37-year-old teacher who subjected his adopted son to months of horrific abuse before murdering him, has been told he will never be released from prison. The whole life order – imposed only in cases of ‘the most extreme gravity’ – means Varley will die behind bars after an eight-week trial at Preston Crown Court found him guilty of murdering 13-month-old Preston Davey, whom he had also sexually abused.
His partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, a former public schoolboy and financial sales manager, was sentenced to 25 years for allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty and one count of sexual assault of a child.
“Jamie Varley gets whole life order for murdering and abusing adopted son Preston Davey; partner jailed 25 years.”
Preston was born on 16 June 2022 and taken into care at five days old. His mother, Sarah Davey, now 42, had been jailed at 14 for the murder of a frail pensioner in 1998 and had been in and out of prison ever since. In April 2023, at nine months old, Preston was adopted by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley. The couple hosted a ‘Chosen Shower’ with cake and a balloon arch; Varley painted a wall mural reading ‘Preston Elijah’, the name they chose for him.
On social media, Varley presented a perfect life – an immaculate home, a successful career, and their miniature pincher dog Maximus. But Det Ch Insp Andy Fallows, the senior investigating officer at Lancashire Police, said: ‘They’ve tried to present as the perfect family, living in the perfect home, having the perfect lives. Instagram ready, aren’t they?’ He added: ‘If you scrape away the veneer of that you come to something that is entirely different. Everything wasn’t good within the household. There were clearly arguments, bickering, clearly issues about long hours at work.’
Behind the façade, Preston endured months of physical, sexual and emotional abuse. In July 2023, the couple carried out a joint attack on the child on 23 July. Four days later, on 27 July, Preston was rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital in cardiac arrest and pronounced dead at 7.18pm. Varley claimed the toddler had accidentally drowned in the bath, but the jury rejected that account.
In court, child abuse expert Dr Joanne Gifford told jurors that Preston, described as a happy, smiley baby in early months, later looked ‘blank’ – a sign of ‘frozen watchfulness’, a trauma response associated with abuse and chronic stress.
Preston’s biological father, Gary Nolan, appeared outside court, saying: ‘Preston was the son I never got to meet, and now never will.’ Preston’s birth mother told the defendants: ‘I will never forgive you.’
The judge’s words to Varley were blunt: ‘You will never be released.’ The whole life order means that only in exceptional compassionate circumstances could he ever be freed – a punishment reserved for the worst of crimes.