Teacher accused of sexual abuse and murder of adopted baby denies making up ‘drowning’ story
Jamie Varley, a teacher accused of the sexual abuse and murder of his adopted baby, denies fabricating a drowning story. The child, Preston Davey, died at 13 months old, and a pathologist found evidence of severe abuse rather than drowning. Varley and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, both deny the charges against them.
- ▪Jamie Varley claims he left the child in the bath for only a couple of minutes before finding him submerged.
- ▪A Home Office pathologist ruled out drowning and identified 40 traumatic injuries consistent with abuse.
- ▪Varley stated that he feels they have not been given time to grieve and believes the allegations against them are false.
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NewsUKCrimeTeacher accused of sexual abuse and murder of adopted baby denies making up ‘drowning’ storyJamie Varley was questioned about the day 13-month-old Preston Davey died in 2023Pat Hurst Friday 22 May 2026 17:14 BSTBookmarkBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":false,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2982125","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/preston-davey-jamie-varley-john-mcgowann-fazakerley-blackpool-b2982125.html","title":"Teacher accused of murdering adopted baby denies making up ‘drowning’ story"}}open image in gallery{"id":"trigger-autogallery-57862","index":0}Preston Davey…
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