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UK teacher gets whole life order for sexually abusing and murdering adopted baby
Jamie Varley, a 37-year-old secondary school teacher, has been sentenced to a whole life order for sexually abusing and murdering his adopted 13-month-old son, Preston Davey. His partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, was jailed for 25 years for allowing the child's death. The case has raised questions about adoption processes and safeguarding.
A secondary school teacher has been jailed for life for sexually abusing and murdering the baby boy he was adopting with his partner. Jamie Varley, 37, was sentenced to a whole life order by a judge on Thursday for abusing and killing 13-month-old Preston Davey. It means he will stay in prison for the rest of his life and never be eligible for parole, Mr Justice Turner said.
His partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was jailed for 25 years for sexual abuse, child cruelty and allowing the death of a child.
Coverage comparison
The Guardian's coverage of the case has been extensive, with multiple articles detailing the trial, the sentencing, and the background of the couple. The reports consistently describe the crimes as "horrific" and emphasize the manipulative nature of Varley, who was described by a senior investigating officer as "a serial manipulator and a serial liar." The coverage also highlights the wider questions the case raises about local authority adoption processes across the UK.
Key claims
Jamie Varley was found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering 13-month-old Preston Davey after an eight-week trial at Preston crown court.
Preston Davey died as a result of acute upper airways obstruction by either smothering or an object or objects being inserted into his mouth, according to a pathologist.
The baby suffered 40 traumatic injuries, including bruises, grazes, and internal injuries, consistent with "forcible penetration" and sexual abuse.
Preston was taken from his biological mother, a convicted killer, and placed with foster carers five days after his birth. He was placed with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley at the age of nine months.
The couple began the adoption process during the Covid pandemic in December 2021 and completed the first stage in March 2022.
On 27 July 2023, Preston was taken to hospital after Varley said there was an accident in the bath. He died soon after. No evidence was found to support Varley's account.
A child safeguarding practice review was launched by Oldham council after Preston's death and has now resumed after the criminal proceedings.
The case has raised questions about whether authorities missed opportunities to save Preston Davey.
Perspectives
The prosecution and police
Prosecutor Peter Wright KC told the trial that Preston was "routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted" over four months. DCI Andy Fellows of Lancashire police, the senior investigating officer, said Varley had shown himself to be "a serial manipulator and a serial liar." A police officer described Varley as an "arrogant, self-centred liar."
The defence
Varley had denied the murder and 25 other offences, but was found guilty by a jury. He claimed to have left the baby in the bath for a couple of minutes and returned to find him submerged, but there was no medical evidence to support that story.
How this outlet told it
The Guardian — World
Framing: Guilty verdict in horrific child abuse case — Condemning and outraged
Facts Included:
Jamie Varley found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering adopted baby
Preston Davey died due to acute upper airways obstruction
Varley described as a 'serial manipulator and a serial liar'
Partner John McGowan-Fazakerley found guilty of allowing the death of a child
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimJamie Varley was found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering 13-month-old Preston Davey.
ClaimJamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley began the adoption process during the Covid pandemic in December 2021 and completed the first stage in March 2022.
ClaimPreston Davey suffered 40 traumatic injuries, including bruises, grazes, and internal injuries, consistent with 'forcible penetration' and sexual abuse.