By The Daily Caller (Opinion) | Created at 2026-06-18 17:10:57 | Updated at 2026-06-18 18:41:50
2 hours ago
British teacher Jamie Varley, 37, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Thursday for the sexual abuse and murder of 13-month-old Preston Davey.
Varley and his partner, 32-year-old John McGowan-Fazakerley, reportedly adopted Davey in April 2023, when the child was nine months old. McGowan-Fazakerley was given a 25-year sentence for sexual abuse, child cruelty, and “allowing the death of a child,” according to The Guardian. Such a sentence seems inadequate for the evil acts in which McGowan-Fazakerley participated. The men reportedly denied all charges.
The details of the case are sickening.
Davey was reportedly taken from his biological mother, Sarah Davey, five days after his birth. His mother, now 42, was sentenced to jail at 14 for the torture and murder of a retiree, according to The Spectator’s Melanie McDonagh.
In a victim impact statement, Sarah Davey reportedly told the men who tortured her son: “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.”
Davey was initially placed with Sandra and Paul Cooper, where he “lived happily” for nine months, according to The Guardian. The Coopers also gave victim impact statements at sentencing, recalling Davey as a “joyful” baby with “sparkly smiling eyes.”
Two men adopt a healthy, happy baby. His grandmother, who looks after his sister, objects. She asks for the baby to be fostered for a few months until she is well enough to take him. This is denied.
His adoptive “father” abuses him until he dies. pic.twitter.com/AnqRzim5dD
— Sam Ashworth-Hayes (@SAshworthHayes) June 15, 2026
The torture Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley would inflict on Davey in his final four months of life must have been incomprehensible to the little child.
The couple treated the baby as a “plaything,” prosecutors told the court. Prosecutor Peter Wright alleged the baby was “routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted,” according to The Guardian.
An investigation reportedly unearthed images and videos of the abuse on Varley’s phone.
Davey was reportedly taken to the hospital three times by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley in the four months he was in their custody. One time, the child had bruises, according to McDonagh. Another time, he had a fractured elbow. Hospital staff believed the couple’s account of the injuries, reports The Guardian. The baby returned home to his torturers after each hospital visit.
The couple was visited twice by social workers. One social worker noticed Davey “was pale and not quite himself,” says McDonagh. Varley reportedly told a coworker that he had “dark fantasies about drowning the child, but told him that his social worker was aware of the problem.” (RELATED: Denver School Board Fires Teacher After Students Reportedly Graded On Same-Sex Kissing Roleplays)
Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley would take Davey to the hospital a final time on July 27, 2023. Davey was reportedly unresponsive and died that day.
BREAKING: Teacher Jamie Varley, 37, has been found guilty of the murder of adopted 13-month-old Preston Davey.
Varley’s partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, has been convicted of allowing the death of the child.
Sky’s @LottyLeeming reports ⬇️
Latest: https://t.co/Shmi9UfZA5 pic.twitter.com/npoH0A3ObG
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 15, 2026
Varley claimed that the child accidentally drowned in the bathtub, according to The Guardian. But the court was presented with evidence to the contrary: the baby’s hair was dry, he was wearing a diaper, and he “did not appear to have swallowed any water.”
A pathologist told the court that Davey died of “acute upper airways obstruction by either smothering or an object or objects being inserted into the baby’s mouth.” This explanation dovetails with the account of sexual abuse presented at trial.
A post-mortem examination reportedly discovered Davey had sustained more than 40 injuries, including “30 visible bruises and serious internal injuries to his throat and bottom,” according to McDonagh. Varkey was convicted of two counts of assault by penetration.
How did medical professionals and other adults ignore these obvious signs of abuse?
The court heard that Preston was seen by a “battery of professionals,” including social workers, doctors, and nurses, in the last weeks of his life, according to The Guardian.
Rachel De Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, speculates that Varley’s status as a teacher may have led some to ignore the child’s deteriorating physical state.
“Did that evil abuser hoodwink people under that professional guise?” she asked, on BBC Radio 4, according to The Guardian. “The social worker saw [Davey] 20 days before he died. I want to know whether the correct level of professional curiosity was there.”
De Souza referred to Davey’s death as a “failure of the state and the safeguarding system,” according to Sky News.
The social workers who saw Davey have not been fired or suspended, according to McDonagh.
Varley’s profession may have encouraged some witnesses to ignore their lying eyes. But I think the explanation speculated upon by McDonagh is more plausible: Professionals ignored signs of abuse for fear of being labeled “homophobic.”
McDonagh points to Davey’s birth grandmother, Debbie Davey.
“Social services might have been hesitant to take action when they saw Preston because they may have been accused of being homophobic,” Debbie Davey said. “They didn’t see through [Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley] and see what was going on.” (RELATED: DUKE: They Didn’t Want To Be Called Racist So They Let Little Girls Get Raped)
I think this is probably correct. The Henry Nowak case made clear that British police are primed to believe the “marginalized” person over the white person. The rape gang inquiry makes clear that police refrained from helping victims — and sometimes aided their abusers — in the name of anti-racism. Why shouldn’t the same logic extend to “marginalized” sexualities?
