Teacher accused of murder and sex assault of baby he adopted
Teacher Jamie Varley is also accused of multiple counts of assault, cruelty and indecent images all relating to the baby, Preston Davey.
The 36-year-old was in the process of adopting Preston along with co-accused John McGowan-Fazakerley, 31, who also appeared in court.
Varley spoke only to confirm his identity during the brief, five-minute hearing at Lancaster Magistrates' Court on Friday.
The defendant, wearing a beige polo shirt with collar-length dark hair with blond streaks, is also accused of one count of 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.
District Judge Richard Thompson, addressing Varley, said: 'You are charged with a number of offences. The murder of Preston Davey, manslaughter, assault by penetration, a number of sexual assaults, grievous bodily harm and also the possession, taking and distribution of indecent and extreme images.
'You know what all the charges are and you understand them?'
Varley nodded in reply.
He was remanded into custody until he appears before a judge at a crown court on Monday.
After he was taken down, his co-accused, McGowan-Fazakerley, was then brought into the dock for a second short hearing.
He is charged with allowing the death of a child, as well as two counts of child cruelty and one count of sexual assault of a child.
The defendant, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt patterned with images of owls and half-moons, confirmed his identity and was also remanded into custody.
All the charges for both men, spanning between March and July of 2023, relate to Preston Davey.
A police investigation first begun after officers were called to Blackpool Victoria Hospital at 7.15pm on July 27, 2023 after the baby was brought in unresponsive. Preston was pronounced dead a short time later.
Varley was suspended as teacher at South Shore Academy in Blackpool when he was arrested in 2023, the Cidari Multi-Academy Trust which now runs the school said.
Both men, who lived in Grimsargh near Preston, will next appear at Preston Crown Court on Monday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'Was a massive bang': Locals describe fatal crash as authorities plea for help
Residents on a busy main road in Queensland have described the loud noises they heard during a head-on collision. A teenager driving a white Mazda 3 on Fernvale Road in Brassall, a suburb of Ipswich, crashed inot a white Kia Seltos at about 8.40pm on Friday. Locals living in the area took to social media to express their concern for those involved in the incident. 'Hope everyone is ok. Was a massive bang,' one person wrote on Facebook. Another said: 'I've been wondering about all those sirens.' Officers said an 18-year-old man from Brassall, who was the sole occupant of the Mazda, died at the scene. Members of the community also commented on a police social media announcement with condolences, saying 'rest in peace'. 'My thoughts and prayers with family, my eldest son said he knew him,' one user said. The driver of the Kia, a 24-year-old Karalee woman, was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment. Queensland Ambulance Service told Daily Mail Australia on Saturday afternoon that she was in a stable condition. Investigations by the forensic crash unit remain ongoing to determine the circumstances leading up to the crash. Police have appealed to any witnesses or anyone with relevant vision of the events leading up to the crash to come forward.
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
Belfast Irish teacher says leaflets made students more determined
An Irish-language teacher whose class was targeted with leaflets saying "English is our mother tongue" has said the incident made people more determined to Nic Giolla Cheara, 22, runs a free weekly Irish class at a pub in Belfast city December, her students discovered leaflets placed on their cars which said that most Irish people "should hate the Irish language".Police investigated the flyers as a "hate incident" but later said no offences were committed. Ms Nic Giolla Cheara, from west Belfast, grew up speaking Irish and said she felt "hurt" by what happened because the language is "all I've ever known"."When somebody says to me that there is no reasoning, there is no purpose, there is no need for it, it hurts," she incident happened outside the bar on Dublin Road, where the Irish class was taking a lengthy message, the flyers said the government "should respect the will of the Irish people not to speak Irish". At the time an Alliance Party councillor condemned the flyers, describing them as intimidating."Irish belongs to our community who use and cherish it and people should be free to learn without this florid stupidity," Emmet McDonough-Brown said at the Nic Giolla Cheara said she was "very concerned" about the impact on her students."I don't want my class to feel unsafe or to feel that there's a disdain for them for just learning a language - it's ridiculous," she the leaflets had the "opposite effect of what the person intended" and "if anything, they felt more motivated to learn". The Police Service of Northern Ireland it carried out a number of inquiries and determined that no offences had been development of policies in Northern Ireland on the Irish language has long been a focus of political disputes between unionists and Irish funding arrangements and proposals for bilingual signage at Belfast's Grand Central Station have been among the recent disagreements at local council level, there have also been disputes over the introduction of dual-language street signs in some can see more on this story on Sunday Politics on BBC One Northern Ireland at 10:00 BST on Sunday and on BBC iPlayer.
Sky News
44 minutes ago
- Sky News
Ballymena disorder: Six arrested in Northern Ireland - as 32 officers injured in second night of violence
Six people have been arrested after disorder broke out for a second night across Northern Ireland, with 32 officers injured. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said officers in Ballymena "came under sustained attack over a number of hours" with fireworks, petrol bombs and bricks. Tuesday evening saw a second night of rioting and disorder in the Co Antrim town, with "sporadic disorder" reported in Belfast, Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus. Protests also took place in areas of Lisburn and Coleraine. Stormont ministers across the powersharing Executive have condemned the disorder, saying those who look to exploit anger over an alleged sexual assault in Ballymena over the weekend to "sow racial tensions... have nothing to offer their communities but division and disorder". Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told MPs: "I utterly condemn the violence that we have seen overnight in Ballymena and in other parts of Northern Ireland." Some of the officers injured in Ballymena required hospital treatment, the force said, adding that it deployed Attenuating Energy Projectiles and a water cannon in an attempt to disperse the crowds. Five people were arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour. They remain in police custody as of Wednesday morning. The PSNI said a man was also arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour on the O'Neill Road in Newtownabbey. Violent disorder broke out in Ballymena on Monday following a peaceful protest supporting the family of a girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted in the area over the weekend. Two teenage boys have been charged with attempted rape. The charges were read to them by a Romanian interpreter at Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Monday. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said on Tuesday that some anti-immigrant groups then broke away from the Ballymena vigil. He described the scenes as "racist thuggery" and said the force was actively working to identify those responsible for the "racially motivated disorder". Sky correspondent Connor Gillies, who was in Ballymena on Tuesday, said one family had to barricade itself into the attic of their home as the clashes worsened. 2:11 Other families displayed posters on their windows in a desperate bid to ensure their house did not become a target, or had Union Jack flags on full display. Photos from Ballymena show one property with its windows boarded up and signs saying "Filipino lives here". 'Justice needs to take its course' In response to the disorder, the leader of the conservative party Traditional Unionist Voice, Jim Allister, said that while the scenes were "very distressing," he pointed to concerns about "unchecked migration". "There has been a bit of authorities not wanting to face up to the racial background of some of this over the years," the MP for North Antrim added. "That unchecked migration which is beyond what the town can cope with, is a source of past and future tensions, that is the reality of it." Mr Allister then called for the violence to stop, and added he had spoken to the family of the girl who was the victim of the alleged sexual assault and that they did not want to see violent scenes. "There needs now to be a period of calm and justice needs to take its course," he added. Meanwhile, the leaders of Sinn Fein, the DUP, Alliance Party and UUP called for calm in a joint statement from the Stormont Executive. They said: "While all of our citizens have the right to engage in peaceful protest, there can never be any justification for the violence that has taken place in recent days, during which residents have been terrorised and numerous PSNI officers injured." 'Absolutely no justification' for violence - minister PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said: "The mindless violence witnessed over the past two nights in Ballymena is deeply concerning and utterly unacceptable." He added that "ironically, and frustratingly, this violence threatens to derail the very pursuit of justice it claims to challenge," and said: "Let me be clear: this behaviour must stop. I appeal to everyone involved to cease all further acts of criminality and disorder immediately." Hilary Benn, secretary of state for Northern Ireland, added on X: "The terrible scenes of civil disorder we have witnessed in Ballymena again this evening have no place in Northern Ireland. "There is absolutely no justification for attacks on PSNI officers or for vandalism directed at people's homes or property."
