The biological father of a murdered nine-month-old boy has said his son endured months of ‘terror at the hands of a monster’.
Gary Nolan paid tribute to his son Preston Davey at a candle-lit vigil to mark what would have been his fourth birthday.
He was just 13 months old when he died at the hands of his adoptive father Jamie Varley, 37, in July 2023 after a campaign of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
A postmortem examination showed Preston had sustained around 40 traumatic injuries in the 16 weeks he had been in the care of Varley and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley.
The infant had also suffered deep bruising to the back of his throat as well as injuries to his bottom, bowel and bladder which jurors heard were caused by sexual assaults.
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Teacher Varley was found guilty of murder as well as 25 other charges relating to his abuse following a harrowing seven-week trial.
McGowan-Fazakerley was convicted of allowing his death, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.
Speaking as family, friends and mourners gathered in Preston’s Flag Market, Nolan told BBC North West Tonight: ‘My son went through four months of terror at the hands of a monster.
‘My son should be alive today on his birthday and not dead.’
Preston had been removed from his mother, Sarah Davey, now 42, by an emergency care order by Oldham Council.
Ms Davey, then aged only 14, had been jailed for the murder of a pensioner in 1998 and in and out of prison since then.
Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley were approved for adoption by Adoption Now, a company providing services to local councils, in April 2023.
The agency said Preston needed ‘love, affection, safety and stability’. But less than four months later he was dead.
Prosecutors said it was ‘one of the most shocking and horrific cases’ they have dealt with, while the first jury to hear the case had to be discharged because one member said they found the evidence too distressing.
Baby Preston was routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him, sexually abused and physically assaulted.
Timeline of key events in the tragic life of Preston Davey
Baby Preston Davey only lived for four months with the defendants before his death. Here is the timeline of the significant events in his short life.
2022
– June 16
Preston Davey is born four weeks early, weighing 5lb 7oz to Sarah Davey at Wythenshawe Hospital, south Manchester.
– June 21
Five days later he is placed into emergency care with foster parents by Oldham Council via an interim care order, where he remains for the first nine months of his life.
2023
– January 6
Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley are approved for adoption by Adoption Now, a company providing services to local councils. The company says Preston needs: ‘Love, affection, safety and stability.’
– February 13
They make first visit to see Preston at his foster parent’s home.
– April 1
Preston spends his first night at the defendants’ home in Staining Road, Blackpool, and is formally placed under the care of the defendants.
– April 6
Varley texts his sister, a baby sleep trainer, saying: ‘He’s dead meat today. Didn’t sleep last night after 11.30. Up every, one and a half hours.’
– May 25
At 11.10am Preston is rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, floppy and unresponsive, Varley reporting a seizure and breathing difficulties. Nursing staff notice bruising to Preston’s head. A medical report states Preston had ‘unexplained injuries, inconsistent with a version of events given…’
Hospital safeguarding are informed and social services and Lancashire Police called.
Following discussion with medical staff the bruises to a baby learning to walk are not regarded as suspicious.
– June 30
At around 8.25pm, Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley take Preston to Blackpool Victoria Hospital A&E Department, reporting the child has a rash, diarrhoea, vomiting and high temperature.
Medics note bruising to Preston’s head, but staff are shown a home video of the child pulling a toy box on to himself while playing, by way of explanation. Varley comments: ‘You lot are going to think we have been abusing him or something.’
It is later discovered the toy box video was filmed 12 days earlier.
– July 6
At 10.36am Varley takes Preston to hospital for third time with injury to his left arm sustained he said while putting him in his cot the previous evening. After X-ray, a cast is applied for a fractured elbow.
The child’s social worker, Amy Shepherdson, who had been in contact with the hospital, texted Varley to say: ‘Just to reassure you they said they had absolutely no concerns. U absolutely did the right thing.’
She visits the home and notes Preston had a ‘very sad face and a little cry’.
– July 7
Preston is visited at home by Helen Magee, an independent reviewer from Oldham social services.
The same week Varley tells a work colleague he is struggling mentally and having ‘dark thoughts’ about drowning or suffocating Preston.
– July 23
Varley takes a series of photos of Preston, stretching over a period of three minutes, 12 seconds. The child, asleep or unconscious, has his head and arms over the top horizontal bar of his cot and his neck resting on it, his body partially suspended and his legs in a ‘frog-like’ position. His tongue is protruding and his lips appear blue.
– July 27
At 4.45pm, Varley records a 35-second video on his phone of Preston in ‘extreme respiratory distress’ taking an ‘agonal gasp’ and needing resuscitation.
At 6.30pm Preston is rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital in a critical condition, Varley says he found the child submerged in the bath.
A team of paramedics, nurses and doctors attempt to resuscitate for 50 minutes but Preston is pronounced dead at 7.18pm.
– July 31
Home Office post-mortem examination concludes Preston’s cause of death as acute upper airway obstruction and rules out drowning.
The autopsy also found around 40 external and internal injuries including bruises to Preston’s forehead, throat, mouth, bladder, bottom and bleeding in the lungs with some evidence of ‘forcible penetration’ to the child’s ‘abnormal’ anatomy regarded as clinical signs of sexual abuse.
2026
– April 20
Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley go on trial denying all offenses.
– June 15
Varley was found guilty of murder, 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 was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.
The vigil last night saw well-wishers light candles while a pipe played the bagpipes, followed by a minutes silence.
organizer Niamh Cardwell-Clarke said the event was to remember Preston and ‘the beautiful little boy he was’.
People were asked to ‘come along, pay a tribute, bring a candle, bring a teddy, blow some bubbles and let’s just remember him for the beautiful boy he was and not for the horrific start in life he had’.
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