Jamie Varley and co-accused John McGowan-Fazakerley were in process of adopting 13-month-old Preston Davey
A secondary school teacher has appeared in court accused of the sexual assault and murder of a 13-month-old baby boy he was adopting.
Jamie Varley, 36, who was a head of year at a school in Blackpool, is also accused of a number of counts of assault, cruelty and taking and distributing indecent images relating to Preston Davey.
Varley was in the process of adopting Preston along with the co-accused John McGowan-Fazakerley, 31. Both men appeared in court on Friday, nearly two years after police were called to Blackpool Victoria hospital, where the one-year-old died on 27 July 2023.
Preston was taken into care by Oldham council six days after he was born, the Blackpool Gazette reported. After spending some time in foster care, a court order allowed him to be placed for adoption and he was moved to Blackpool on 3 April 2023. He died barely three months later.
