John McGowan-Fazakerley said adopting baby Preston was ‘everything we ever wanted’
John McGowan-Fazackerley(Image: X)
The partner of a man accused of murdering their adopted baby son said it was ‘like a soap [opera]’ when they took the little boy to hospital.
Preston Davey died from acute upper airways obstruction four months after being placed for adoption with Jamie Varley and John McGowan-Fazakerley. On July 27, 2023, he was carried into Blackpool Victoria Hospital in cardiac and respiratory arrest.
Medics tried for an hour to resuscitate the 13-month-old but he was pronounced dead at 7.20pm.
In June 2025, Mr McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was arrested on suspicion of causing or allowing the death of a child, child neglect and sexual assault. The prosecution say he should have protected Preston against the risk posed by his partner, who is accused of murder, GBH, sexual assault and taking indecent images of the baby.
Today (Monday May 18, 2025), the jury at Preston Crown Court was shown video extracts from his police interviews following his arrest. Mr McGowan-Fazakerley said he arrived home from work to find the door locked and the dog barking.
Mr Varley shouted from upstairs that he needed his help and he went inside to see Preston sitting on his bedroom floor being sick, he told the detective.
Preston Davey
He said: “He needed medical help. He started to go funny, limp, he wasn’t responsive being sick. He needed to go [to hospital].
“He threw up a little bit but he wasn’t alert. You know yourself, if you see someone who’s poorly, it was just parental instinct. He needed help.”
Mr McGowan-Fazackerley described driving to the hospital, with his partner giving an account of Preston slipping out of his bath seat while they were on their way.
When they arrived at the accident and emergency department, Mr Varley passed the baby to paramedics and Mr McGowan-Fazakerley said he heard somebody say he needed resuscitation.
“It was hell,” he said. “The whole thing felt like it was in a soap [opera]. Jamie was running round like a headless chicken.
“It was horrendous, he kept saying it was all his fault, that he put him in the bath seat to put his clothes on – he was screaming and shouting and the nurses were trying to help him. I just went into shock.”
In the following interview Mr McGowan-Fazakerley was asked about their relationship and Preston’s arrival into the family. He said they had been together since 2018 and both wanted to start a family.
“I’ve always wanted children and Jamie’s always wanted children. It just fit,” he told detectives. “Careers were in the right place, we were in that house, we were settled – it felt like the right time.”
He said when Preston came into their lives ‘it was like everything we wanted, everything had come true. It’s all we ever, ever wanted. He was just so, so perfect’.
He told detectives social workers hadn’t wanted people to fall in love with Preston’s photograph and had put together a description of his character instead.
“It was like it was all meant to be,” he said.
“Of course it was stressful – to us he was a brand new baby and you’re thinking about somebody else as well, changing our routine and putting a new routine in place. It was like any process you have with a little one, brand new stresses coming into play, making sure his bottles were the right temperature…
‘I struggled a bit at first, being an only child, Jay has loads of brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and has been around children being a teacher. His instinct was there.
Jamie Varley(Image: X)
“I would say ‘you know what Preston needs before he even tells you’. His instinct was there. He just had it.”
Mr McGowan-Fazakerley wiped tears from his eyes as he watched the recorded interview on the screen in the dock. He denies causing or allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and sexual assault.
The prosecution say Preston was subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse throughout his time with the couple. On the day he died it is alleged he was seriously sexually assaulted while alone with Mr Varley.
Varley, 38, is accused of murder; sexual assault of a child under 13; inflicting grievous bodily harm; five counts of child cruelty; and further counts of making, taking and distributing indecent images.
McGowan-Fazackerley is accused of causing or allowing the death of a child; two counts of child cruelty; and sexual assault of a child under 13.
Proceeding
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