Teacher had 'harmful thoughts' towards baby, trial told

A teacher accused of the sexual abuse and murder of his adopted son told a work colleague of "harmful thoughts" towards the baby, a court has heard.

Janet Gee said 37-year-old Jamie Varley, with whom she worked at a high school, told her he was struggling to cope with looking after baby Preston Davey.

Varley told police the 13-month-old boy accidentally drowned in a bath, but the jury at Preston Crown Court has heard a post mortem examination discovered the child had suffered 40 injuries.

Varley is accused of killing and abusing Preston, and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, is accused of allowing his death and assaulting him. Both men deny the charges.

• Warning: The following court evidence contains information some readers may find distressing

Gee said that on one occasion Varley arrived at her house with the baby, very flustered and agitated. Preston had 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 told her he had told the same to his employer and he was having welfare home visits arranged by the school.

"I did not do anything about it," Gee said.

"I believed it was all being dealt with."

The trial heard Varley first worked at South Shore Academy as a design and technology technician, before doing teacher training between 2019 and 2021 and becoming a teacher of the subject there.

He also took on a pastoral role as a designated safeguarding lead.

Preston was immediately taken into care after being born on 16 June 2022, and was placed with foster parents at five days old.

After an assessment and familiarisation process in early 2023, Preston was adopted and began living with the defendants on 1 April at their home in Blackpool.

Varley took a year off school to look after the child, but struggled as a new parent with a baby who frequently woke during the night, the court heard

In the next four months before the baby's death, he was allegedly routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted, had indecent images and videos taken of him, and suffered 40 traumatic injuries.

In the months before his death, the child was taken to hospital three times, once with a fractured left elbow.

Gee said Varley told her he had been putting the baby down and dropped him by accident, causing the injury to his arm.

But after Preston's death, Gee said Varley gave a different explanation for 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 27 July 2023 the baby was rushed to hospital by the defendants, unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest, and medics could not revive him.

Afterwards, Varley told Gee he had put the baby in the bath while he had a shower then realised he did not have a towel, the court heard.

"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," 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."

But at Blackpool Victoria Infirmary, the child was found to be dry, had dry hair and did not appear to have swallowed any water, the court heard.

A Home Office post-mortem examination found 40 non-accidental, internal and external injuries.

There were 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.

There was no evidence to support drowning, the court heard.

A pathologist gave the cause of death as acute upper airways obstruction 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.

The trial continues.

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