A teacher’s claim that a baby accidentally drowned in the bath was challenged in court when his partner testified that the child “wasn’t wet.”
The tragic case involves 13-month-old Preston Davey, who prosecutors allege was sexually assaulted and murdered by Jamie Varley, a head of year at a secondary school.
Recounting the harrowing day of Preston’s death, Varley’s partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, described coming home from work to a chaotic and distressing scene.
Testifying at Preston Crown Court, McGowan-Fazakerley recounted going to Preston’s bedroom, where he saw “towels on the floor and Preston in his nappy.”
During cross-examination, prosecuting lawyer Peter Wright, KC, questioned McGowan-Fazakerley, asking, “Well, his hair wasn’t wet, was it?”
McGowan-Fazakerley responded, “It wasn’t. I can’t recall it being wet. I remember it being quite tight in terms of his locks, but Preston wasn’t wet, put it that way.”
The sales manager admitted not going in the bathroom, leading Mr Wright to ask: ‘What was it about the circumstances in the bedroom, because as you say you didn’t go in the bathroom, that led you to conclude there’d been a bath?’
Mr Wright has previously accused Varley, 37, who was in the process of adopting Preston with McGowan-Fazakerley, of providing a ‘wholly false account that is all rehearsed, made up by you to conceal what you really did.’
Sales rep John McGowan-Fazakerley, who denies causing or allowing Preston Davey’s death
McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, said: ‘Jamie told me information about what happened and he also reiterated the same account in the car.
‘I remember him saying he was in the bath seat, then he wasn’t. It was quite short and snappy.
‘Jamie was telling me that a bath happened and from the towels I saw on the floor, I didn’t start to think a bath has not happened, this is not right. It tallied with what I saw.’
Mr Wright challenged McGowan-Fazakerley about the events of July 27, 2023, saying: ‘Is the position that on that day, in that bedroom, your worst fears had become a reality when that little boy was left in the care of your partner?’
McGowan-Fazakerley, who drove Varley and Preston the mile from their home to the accident and emergency unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, replied: ‘When I entered that house, I was absolutely terrified that I entered a scene I didn’t expect to see. Loads of things seemed to happen in a short period of time.
‘I was shocked, I was trying to help him to try to get him the medical attention he needed as soon as I possibly could.’
McGowan-Fazakerley described how Preston was ‘happy, smiley, giggly’, when he changed his nappy before setting off for work that morning.
But a post-mortem examination found he suffocated and suffered 40 injuries including signs of a serious sexual assault, however there was no evidence to support drowning.
The cause of Preston’s death was found to be acute upper airways obstruction by either smothering or an object or objects inserted into his mouth.
Tragic baby Preston Davey, who died aged 13 months, was ‘smothered and sexually assaulted’, a court has heard
Mr Wright asked McGowan-Fazakerley about inconsistencies in his account of Preston’s condition on arriving home, when the co-defendant said he remembered ‘each and every element’ of the day.
McGowan-Fazakerley said Preston was ‘sitting up’ and ‘conscious’ – but then also claimed Varley was performing CPR on Preston and wiped sick from his face.
Mr Wright pointed out how in his police interview, there was ‘no mention’ of CPR, just that Varley was ‘rubbing’ Preston’s back in an attempt to revive him.
Mr Wright said: ‘Is the position he was lifeless by this time?’
McGowan-Fazakerley responded: ‘He was sat up’. He added he had ‘tried to be as detailed (in his recollections) as I could’.
The prosecution also challenged McGowan-Fazakerley about his evidence concerning seven pictures on Varley’s phone from July 23, taken four days before Preston’s death, showing an alleged incident of sexual assault when the sleeping infant was leaning over the bars of his cot.
McGowan-Fazakerley said the day hadn’t ‘stuck’ with him – and he had to go back through his bank statement to remember what he had been doing.
He said: ‘I’ve not done what’s alleged. I imagine someone who had done such a thing would remember doing that.
Varley, left, who is accused of murder, and John McGowan-Fazakerley at Preston Crown Court
‘I remember seeing him on the bars of the cot and I remember telling Jamie to lay him down. That was as much information as I could remember’.
Mr Wright referred to a police interview where McGowan-Fazakerley said he ‘couldn’t remember if I was there or not’, the barrister asked: ‘Was that a genuine answer or were you playing for time?’
McGowan-Fazakerley said: ‘It was a genuine answer.’
The prosecutor accused McGowan-Fazakerley of colluding with Varley while they lived together for nearly two years prior to being charged last May.
Jamie Varley, 37, denies murder, sexual assault, cruelty and making indecent images
He asked: ‘Isn’t the position that two years on, you and Jamie Varley had scratched your heads as to the circumstances in which Preston had died and also colluded about what you may have been up to in the intervening period?’
McGowan-Fazakerley said: ‘Jamie and I have never discussed the 23rd of July, never discussed the images.
‘I’ve never seen those images until I was being shown them in police interview. The words sexual assault or physical assault were never uttered by any one of us in the intervening time while we were under police investigation.’
Further challenged over how Preston ended up with a broken elbow, for which he was taken to hospital on July 6, Mr Wright suggested he and Varley were ‘covering for each other’.
McGowan-Fazakerley said he believed the injury may have occurred when Preston was being strapped into a car seat when going to visit his parents in Cheshire the previous day on July 5.
He said he did not think it happened from when he was being put down in his cot and slipped from Varley’s grip, as suggested by the teacher.
The court heard McGowan-Fazakerley had likened Preston’s movement in the cot to a ‘twizzle’ – a gentle event – and that the car seat explanation was more likely.
He said: ‘I wouldn’t cover up, not when it came to the safety of my child.’
Prosecutors allege that during the four months Preston was living with the couple, he was routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him, and was sexually abused and physically assaulted.
Preston was used as a “plaything” for the “amusement” of the defendants, Mr Wright said.
McGowan-Fazakerley denies causing or allowing the death of a child, sexual assault and child cruelty.
Varley denies murder, manslaughter, causing grievous bodily harm, sexual assault, making and sharing indecent images.
The trial continues.
