Man charged with murdering and assaulting baby he wanted to adopt

A man has appeared in court accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a 13-month-old boy he was seeking to adopt.

Jamie Varley, who is believed to have worked as a high school teacher, is also accused of multiple counts of assault, cruelty and indecent images.

All of the charges relate to Preston Davey, who was pronounced dead shortly after he was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital in July 2023.

Mr Varley, 36, and his 31-year-old co-accused John McGowan-Fazakerley were in the process of adopting Preston. Both men were remanded in custody following brief hearings at Lancaster Magistrates’ Court.

Lancashire Police were alerted at about 19:15 BST on 27 July 2023 after an unresponsive baby boy was brought into the hospital.

Mr McGowan-Fazakerley is accused of allowing the death of a child, sexually assaulting a child, and two counts of child cruelty.

The charges all relate to a period of time between March and July of 2023

Mr Varley, wearing a beige polo shirt with collar-length dark hair with blond streaks, spoke only to confirm his identity during the five-minute hearing.

He is also accused of manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration of a child, five counts of child cruelty, one count of inflicting grievous bodily harm, and one count of sexually assaulting a child.

The 36-year-old is additionally charged with 10 counts of taking indecent photographs of a child, distributing indecent photographs of a child, two counts of possessing indecent pseudo images of a child, and the possession of an extreme pornographic image.

Mr McGowan-Fazakerley was then brought into the dock.

The 31-year-old, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt patterned with images of owls and half-moons, confirmed his identity and was also remanded into custody.

The defendants, previously from Blackpool, now live on Chandlers Way in Grimsargh, near Preston.

They will appear before Preston Crown Court on Monday.