Preston Davey died after being placed for adoption with the defendants, from Blackpool
A baby boy who died after four months of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of his adopted fathers had several 'near misses' while he was in their care, a jury has been told.
Victoria Hospital on July 27, 2023. The 13-month-old had more than 40 separate internal and external injuries to his body, the court heard. Experts have told Preston Crown Court they believe he was sexually assaulted in the hours before he died. A consultant in child sexual abuse medicine told a trial at Preston Crown Court she believed the little boy had been in a critical condition on at least three previous occasions.
Dr Joanne Gifford highlighted videos which capture Preston struggling to breathe and showing signs of reduced oxygen in videos recorded on his adopted father's phone. Jamie Varley, 37, a former head of year at Blackpool's South Shore Academy, denies Preston's murder along with further offences of child cruelty, GBH, sexual assault and making indecent images of the tot.
His partner, 32-year-old John McGowan-Fazakerley, is accused of causing or allowing Preston's death by failing to protect him from the obvious risk posed by Varley, who was Preston's primary carer. He is also accused of taking part in a sexual assault on the baby on July 23, 2023, four days before he died at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Both men deny the allegations. Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of Jamie Varley, 36 with co-accused John McGowan-Fazakerley, 31, .
Dr Gifford, a paediatric consultant in child protection, considered the findings of a post mortem conducted by Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour. She also looked at Preston's medical records, notes from three previous hospital admissions and photos and videos captured on his adoptive fathers' phones, the court heard.
She said Preston had multiple 'inflicted injuries' and while it was not unusual for a child who was learning to walk to have bumps and bruises to their forehead and thigh, the number and pattern of the marks to Preston's body were not typical of domestic accidents. The jury was shown marks which Dr Gifford said were consistent with 'hard gripping' or a forceful slap. A fracture to Preston's elbow was likely to have been inflicted, she said.
She agreed with Dr Armour that a circular bruise, seen on Preston's bottom in the weeks before he died was consistent with a human bite mark and it was not clinically plausible that bruises to the back of his throat were caused by resuscitation attempts, she told the court. In a series of still photographs, taken on July 23, Prestoncan be seen slumped over the bars of his cot in an unnatural position.
He appeared unresponsive and his neck was pressed against the cot rail, the jury was told. Dr Gifford explained that even in a deep sleep, a child of 13 months old would instinctively move themselves to a comfortable, horizontal position.
"Even allowing for the possibility of extreme fatigue due to sleep deprivation, in my opinion he has not naturally fallen asleep in this position’, she told the jury. "My main concern is that the horizontal top bar of the cot is over his neck and that poses a risk to his airway.
" The time stamps on the photographs suggested Preston had been left in this unnatural position - described by Dr Alison Armour as 'partially suspended' for several minutes, the court heard. "The blue shade to his lips indicated he does not have enough oxygen. ", Dr Gifford said. "This could be due to obstruction of the airway, unconsciousness or other reasons.
I think this is an emergency and he needs to be put in a position where his airway is not obstructed to see if he is breathing. One video, recorded on April 25, 2023 - just three weeks after Preston was placed with the defendants at the house in Staining Avenue, Blackpool, showed the baby lying back in the bath, between Mr Varley's legs. His face was red and his eyes were glazed.
"It would be clinically consistent with the moments following an asphyxia episode’, Dr Gifford said. She said recent injuries to Preston’s pelvic organs, noted during the autopsy, were 'highly indicative' of sexual trauma.
"I would expect him to look extremely unwell, in a critical condition from the time this occurred", she said. A video, recorded an hour and 45 minutes before Preston was taken to hospital on July 27, 2023, showed Preston in a 'pre-terminal' condition, Dr Gifford said.
“Clinically I see that video and want to resuscitate him immediately. He is pre terminal. His breathing pattern is a very, very poor sign of his wellbeing. He is a child in that video who needs to be resuscitated.
” Dr Gifford explained that children who are ill and suffer seizures do not recover spontaneously. She said they become increasingly unwell until medical help is sought.
However children who have suffered a temporary loss of oxygen, can recover when the blockage is removed - although it is not guaranteed, she said. She also showed the jury multiple signs of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. She described the tot's expression in some of the footage as 'frozen watchful' - a blank state sometimes found in children who have suffered repeated abuse or neglect.
Preston showed no sign of pleasure or enjoyment in videos of him being spun fast on a saucer toy in a playground, and bounced 'vigorously' on Mr Varley's knee to 'Let's Twist Again', the court heard.
"It’s quite noticeable he doesn’t smile or laugh or engage in much eye contact with the caregiver", Dr Gifford told the jury. "Babies at 13 months are extremely sociable. "When they are enjoying play they will make it clear by smiling, laughing and making eye contact. All of those are absent here.
" She said videos of Preston being kept awake by Mr Varley while the child's film Moana blared in the background were 'hard to watch'. A 14 minute long video of Preston unsupervised in a bath had multiple dangers beyond drowning, she added. Varley is accused of murder; sexual assault of a child under 13; inflicting grievous bodily harm; five counts of child cruelty; and further counts of making, taking and distributing indecent images.
McGowan-Fazackerley is accused of causing or allowing the death of a child; two counts of child cruelty; and sexual assault of a child under 13. Subscribe to our daily newsletter LANCS LIVE NEWS and get all the biggest stories from across Lancashire direct to your inbox
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