A former teacher accused of sexually assaulting and murdering the baby he was trying to adopt has appeared in court.
Jamie Varley, 36, was in the process of adopting 13-month-old Preston Davey in 2023 along with co-accused John McGowan-Fazakerley, 31, who also appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court on Monday.
Members of the child's family sat yards away in the public gallery alongside police officers, one woman in tears as she looked over at the defendants.
Varley is accused of murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration of a child, five counts of child cruelty, one count of inflicting grievous bodily harm, and one count of sexual assault of a child.
He is further accused of 10 counts of taking indecent photographs of a child, one count of distributing indecent photographs of a child, two counts of possessing indecent pseudo images of a child, and one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image.
