'I will never forgive you': Mother of murdered baby Preston Davey tells his adoptive parents as they are jailed

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Former schoolteacher Jamie Varley, 37, was found guilty this week of the murder of 13-month-old Preston, who suffocated during sexual abuse in July 2023.

His partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, a sales manager for a finance company, was also convicted of charges including causing or allowing the baby boy's death and jointly participating in a sickening sexual assault.

Read More: Teacher facing life sentence for murder and sex abuse of adopted baby he treated as his 'plaything'

Read More: Teacher guilty of sexual abuse and murder of 13-month-old adopted baby boy

At Preston Crown Court on Thursday, Preston’s biological mother, Sarah Davey, said that her son was “perfect from the moment he was born”.

She said the day he was taken from her was “one of the worst days” of her life.

In an emotional victim-impact statement read out in court, Ms Davey said: “Preston was innocent. He was defenceless. He relied entirely on you - the adults responsible for him - to love him, care for him, and keep him safe.

“Instead, you caused him suffering. You took away his chance to grow up, to go to school, to make friends, to live a full life. You took everything from him.”

Ms Davey said she would “never forgive” the two men for what they did to her son and what they “stopped him from becoming and achieving in his life”.

Preston was born to Davey in June 2022 while she was in and out of prison after being convicted of the killing of a pensioner when she was 14 years old.

She and 15-year-old Lisa Healey tortured 71-year-old Lily Lilley by squirting shampoo in her eyes, cutting her with a knife and tying a gag around her mouth. 

Five days after giving birth to Preston, he was taken into the care of Oldham Council. He was then given to Varley and his partner for adoption after spending time in foster care.

Davey told the court: "The second he was placed in my arms, I fell completely in love with him. He was my baby, my only son, and from that day on I never wanted to let him go.

"For the first seven months of his life, I was lucky enough to spend precious time with him. He had the most beautiful smile, one that could light up any room, and the bond we shared was something everyone could see.

"Those memories should have brought me comfort - but instead, they are now mixed with pain, because I know what you put him through in his final months."

She also called the day he was taken from her "one of the worst days of my life" and sobbed as her statement was read out. 

"I had no choice in that decision. I tried to take some comfort in believing he would be safe, loved, and protected, and he was with his foster parents, Sandra and Paul, I trusted them, they and the system trusted you, that trust was completely and unforgivably broken."

Preston was adopted by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, a financial sales manager, in April 2023 and in the next four months he routinely suffered sexual abuse and ill-treatment.

In the months before his death he was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times with suspicious bruises noticed by medical staff. He was also seen by several social workers in the weeks before he died.

When Preston was killed, doctors found he had more than 40 bruises as well as internal injuries, which prosecutors said indicated he had been sexually abused.

A Home Office post-mortem examination determined his cause of death to be acute upper airways obstruction as a result of an object or objects inserted into his mouth.

The men are due to be sentenced later today