A 13-month-old baby was “routinely physically and sexually abused” by his proposed adoptive gay parents before being murdered by one of them, a court has heard.

Preston Davey was placed with Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley in April 2023 when he was nine months old.

Less than four months later, he was taken to A&E in a state of cardiac arrest and pronounced dead a short time later.

A jury at Preston Crown Court was told the cause of death had been an obstruction to his airway, either by smothering or having something placed in his mouth that prevented him from breathing.

Mr Varley, a former high school teacher, is accused of murdering Preston at their home in Blackpool on July 27, 2023.

He is also accused of sexual assault, cruelty, grievous bodily harm, assault by penetration, taking indecent images of a child and distributing an indecent image.

Mr McGowan-Fazakerley, his partner and co-accused, was not at home when Preston was allegedly killed.

He is charged with allowing the death of a child, cruelty to a child and the sexual assault of a child.

Mr Varley, wearing a cream suit, open-necked white shirt and shoulder-length hair with blond streaks, sat beside his co-accused, wearing a green top and jeans, in the dock, metres from Preston’s mother in the public gallery.

On the opening day of their trial Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, told the jury it would be a “highly emotionally charged case”.

He said: “Preston Davey was born on June 16 2022. In April 2023, then aged nine months, he was placed with the defendants Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley with a view to him being formally adopted by them.

“At the time of these events, the defendants were living together as a couple at an address in Blackpool.

“Less than four months later at around 6.30pm on the afternoon of Thursday July 27, 2023, Preston Davey was brought to the accident and emergency department of Blackpool Victoria Hospital by the defendants.

“Preston Davey was unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest. By now, he was aged just 13 months. Despite the best efforts of the medical staff on duty at the hospital, Preston Davey was in terminal decline and at 7.18pm, he was pronounced dead.”

Mr Wright went on: “As terrible as it is, this tragedy was not the result of some dreadful yet unforeseen accident or natural phenomenon … we say the evidence demonstrates that he was murdered by one of the people entrusted with his wellbeing, one of his proposed adoptive parents.

“We say the person responsible for killing Preston Davey was the defendant, Jamie Varley.”

At least 40 traumatic injuries

The jury was told that in the four months that Preston had lived with the defendants, he had been ill-treated physically and psychologically as well as being sexually abused.

“After he was placed for adoption with the defendants and residing with them in Blackpool he was admitted to Blackpool Victoria on three occasions,” Mr Wright said.

A post mortem examination revealed he had suffered at least 40 traumatic injuries during his time in the defendants’ care, Mr Wright explained.

The jury was told the injuries included at least 30 external bruises, internal bruising to his mouth and throat, internal bruising to his bottom, bowel and bladder, lacerations to his rectum and a fractured arm.

The prosecutor said the person principally responsible for the sexual and physical assaults was Mr Varley but there was also evidence that implicated both defendants in an earlier sexual assault of Preston as well as neglect.

The court was told that Mr McGowan-Fazakerley was at work on the day Preston was allegedly fatally assaulted.

Mr Wright said the prosecution’s case was that he should have known the danger the baby was in but he failed to protect him.

‘Indecent images of Preston’

The court heard that when Mr Varley’s mobile phone was seized, a number of indecent images of Preston were allegedly recovered.

Mr Wright said they were not the usual type of snaps taken by a doting parent and explained that some of the pictures had been shared with Mr McGowan-Fazakerley.

The jury was told there was also a recording that showed Preston left seemingly unattended, slithering around uncontrollably in the bath for 14 minutes without any adult intervention.

Mr Varley is also accused of deliberately depriving the baby of sleep and violently spinning him around on a child’s playground roundabout, leaving him feeling disorientated.

Mr Varley denies murder and an alternative charge of 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.

Mr 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.