Teacher accused of abusing and murdering baby told colleague of 'harmful thoughts'

A teacher accused of sexually abusing an adopted baby and murdering him, allegedly revealed "harmful thoughts" to a colleague, a court was told. Janet Gee claims defendant Jamie Varley, 37, whom she worked alongside at a high school, confided that he was struggling to cope with caring for 13-month-old Preston Davey - the baby he had adopted with his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32. Varley told police the child had accidentally drowned in a bath but his version contradicted a post mortem showing the child sustained 40 injuries, a jury at Preston Crown Court was told. Both men also face charges of sexual offences against the child. Mrs Gee told the court that on one occasion Varley arrived at her home with the baby, visibly flustered and agitated, with Preston wearing a blue plaster cast on his arm. She told the jury: "He told me how he was having harmful thoughts towards the baby in terms of drowning or suffocation. He was still agitated at this point. He was very quick to say this was something he was not going to act upon. I believed him, I have children of my own and sometimes your thoughts go to dark places." Varley informed her that he had disclosed the same to his employer and that welfare home visits were being arranged by the school. "I did not do anything about it," Mrs Gee said. "I believed it was all being dealt with." Mrs Gee stated that she worked alongside Varley at South Shore Academy, a high school in Blackpool, after the defendant joined as a design and technology technician. He qualified as a teacher of the subject at the school following teacher training between 2019 and 2021, while also taking on a pastoral role as a designated safeguarding lead. Preston was born on June 16, 2022, and taken into care by Oldham Council, before being placed with foster parents at just five days old. Following an assessment and familiarisation process in early 2023, Preston was adopted and began living with the defendants on April 1 at their Blackpool home. Varley took a year's leave from school to care for the child, but struggled as a first-time parent with a baby who regularly woke throughout the night, the court heard. In the four months leading up to the baby's death, he was allegedly subjected to routine ill-treatment, had indecent images and videos taken of him, was sexually abused and physically assaulted, sustaining 40 traumatic injuries. During the months preceding his death, the child was admitted to hospital on three separate occasions, one of which was for a fractured left elbow. Mrs Gee said Varley told her he had been placing the baby down and accidentally dropped him, causing the injury to his arm. However, following Preston's death, Mrs Gee said Varley provided a different account of the injury. She said: "The inconsistency was around the cot, the first instance was he dropped him, the second was he had his arm out of the cot and hurt it. So, no consistency." On July 27, 2023, the baby was rushed to hospital by the defendants, unconscious and in cardiac arrest, and medics were unable to revive him. Following the incident, Varley told Mrs Gee he had placed the baby in the bath while showering, only to realise he had no towel, reported the Manchester Evening News. "So he went out and when he came back in the baby had fallen out of the bath seat and was face down in the water," Mrs Gee said. "When I made the phone call Jamie said to me, 'Jan, I promise you, I didn't do anything'. It was as soon as I made contact, he said, 'Jan, I promise you, I didn't do anything' and went on to give an account of that day." However, upon arrival at Blackpool Victoria Infirmary, the child was found to be completely dry, with dry hair and no indication of having swallowed any water, the court was told. A Home Office post-mortem examination showed multiple non-accidental, both internal and external injuries. These included bruises and grazes to his head, face and mouth, upper limbs, chest, back and left thigh. Preston also had injuries to his mouth, throat and bottom. The court heard there was no evidence to support drowning, with a pathologist attributing the cause of death to acute upper airways obstruction caused by either smothering or an object or objects inserted into his mouth. Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of cruelty to a child, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, to his co-accused, and one of making an indecent photo. McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.