PRESTON DAVEY CASE: 40 TRAUMATIC INJURIES, PHONE EVIDENCE AND A TIMELINE THAT SHATTERED THE BATH ACCIDENT STORY

The case of 13-month-old Preston Davey has ended in convictions after prosecutors presented medical, digital and witness evidence detailing the final four months of the baby’s life. A postmortem found 40 traumatic injuries, while investigators recovered disturbing material from Jamie Varley’s phone. The evidence ultimately contradicted his account that Preston had accidentally drowned in a bath.

The story of Preston Davey is one of those cases where the evidence became more powerful as investigators pieced it together.

Preston was only 13 months old when he was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital on July 27, 2023, unconscious and in cardiac arrest.

He could not be saved.

What initially emerged as a claimed household accident would become a complex murder investigation — one involving medical evidence, phone data, photographs, videos, messages and testimony about the child’s treatment during the months before his death.

In June 2026, a jury found Jamie Varley guilty of murdering and sexually abusing Preston, while his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, was convicted of allowing Preston’s death and other offenses. Varley was subsequently given a whole-life order, meaning he will remain in prison for the rest of his life. McGowan-Fazakerley was sentenced to 25 years.

THE BABY WHO HAD BEEN DESCRIBED AS HAPPY AND HEALTHY

Preston was born in June 2022 and entered emergency foster care when he was just days old.

For the first nine months of his life, his foster carers described him as a happy and healthy baby.

In March 2023, an adoption panel approved Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley as his prospective adoptive parents.

Within weeks, Preston moved into their care.

According to prosecutors, that period would ultimately become the focus of a devastating investigation.

THE WARNING SIGNS BEGAN TO APPEAR

Evidence presented during the trial included messages sent by Varley after Preston entered the home.

Some described the exhaustion and difficulties that can accompany caring for a young child.

But prosecutors argued that other communications revealed something much more troubling.

Investigators also recovered photographs and videos from Varley’s phone.

The material became a crucial part of the prosecution case, alongside medical evidence showing that Preston had suffered repeated injuries while in the couple’s care.

40 INJURIES TOLD A DIFFERENT STORY

A Home Office postmortem examination identified 40 traumatic injuries sustained during the period Preston was in the defendants’ care.

Lancashire Police said the injuries included at least 30 external bruises, internal injuries involving areas including the mouth and throat, and injuries to the anus and bowel.

He also had a healing fracture to his left upper arm, which medical experts considered non-accidental.

The collection of injuries became one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case.

Rather than pointing to a single isolated accident, prosecutors argued that the medical evidence showed a pattern of harm over time.

THEN CAME THE BATH STORY

On the afternoon of July 27, Preston was eventually taken to hospital unconscious.

Varley told hospital staff and police that he had placed Preston in a bath seat, briefly left him alone and returned to discover him submerged.

But investigators found problems with that account.

According to police, Preston was completely dry when he arrived at hospital, and medical evidence did not support drowning as the cause of death.

The postmortem instead established that Preston died from an acute upper-airway obstruction.

The prosecution argued that the obstruction resulted from an assault.

Varley denied murdering or abusing Preston and maintained that his account of a bath accident was true.

The jury ultimately rejected his defense.

THE PHONE BECAME A DIGITAL WINDOW INTO THE HOME

Perhaps one of the most significant elements of the investigation was the material recovered from Varley’s mobile phone.

Investigators found photographs and videos involving Preston.

Police said the digital evidence helped establish incidents of child cruelty and contributed to the prosecution case concerning sexual abuse and physical mistreatment.

One video recorded on July 27 at approximately 4:45 p.m. showed Preston lying on a bed and struggling to breathe.

According to Lancashire Police, the footage showed the child in obvious distress.

The prosecution argued that assaults had occurred earlier that day while Varley was the only adult present in the house.

That digital timestamp became particularly important because it helped investigators reconstruct the final hours of Preston’s life.

THE TIMELINE RAISED EVEN MORE QUESTIONS

Police say Varley recorded the video at 4:45 p.m.

Yet Preston was not brought to hospital until 6:24 p.m.

He was unconscious and in cardiac arrest when he arrived.

Medical staff attempted to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

That timeline became central to the prosecution’s argument.

Investigators were able to compare:

What the phone recorded.

What Varley told investigators.

What medical experts found.

And what happened during the final hours before Preston was taken to hospital.

The pieces did not fit the original bath-accident explanation.

A PREVIOUS FRACTURE ALSO BECAME PART OF THE CASE

Preston had previously been taken to hospital with a fractured arm.

The injury occurred during the months he was living with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.

Medical experts later determined that the fracture was non-accidental.

It became another part of the prosecution’s broader argument that Preston had repeatedly been harmed before the day he died.

THE CASE WAS ABOUT MORE THAN ONE DAY

That distinction is crucial.

The prosecution did not present Preston’s death as an isolated event.

Instead, jurors heard evidence concerning his entire period in the home.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, medical evidence indicated that some injuries occurred weeks before his death, while phone evidence documented episodes of cruelty and sexual abuse.

Prosecutors argued that the cumulative evidence showed a pattern rather than a single tragic accident.

The jury ultimately agreed.

THE VERDICT

After a seven-week trial at Preston Crown Court, Jamie Varley was convicted of:

• Murder
• Sexual offenses
• Child cruelty
• Serious assault
• Taking and possessing indecent images involving a child

McGowan-Fazakerley was convicted of allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and sexual assault.

The convictions marked the conclusion of a case that had taken years to investigate.

But the sentencing that followed made the outcome unmistakable.

VARLEY WAS GIVEN A WHOLE-LIFE ORDER.

He will spend the remainder of his life in prison.

McGowan-Fazakerley received a 25-year sentence, with the applicable release provisions set out by the court.

THE QUESTION OF MISSED WARNING SIGNS

Preston’s case has also raised broader questions about the systems designed to protect vulnerable children.

He had been placed with foster carers as a newborn and was described as healthy and happy before moving to his prospective adoptive home.

Within four months, he had suffered repeated injuries and ultimately died.

That progression has prompted scrutiny of the adoption and child-protection processes surrounding the case.

However, any conclusions about institutional failures need to be based on the findings of the relevant reviews rather than speculation.

THE EVIDENCE THAT FINALLY CHANGED THE STORY

What makes the Preston Davey investigation so striking is the convergence of evidence.

It wasn’t one photograph.

It wasn’t one medical finding.

It wasn’t one message.

Investigators assembled medical records, postmortem findings, digital evidence, witness accounts and the defendants’ own statements.

Together, prosecutors argued, those pieces revealed a reality dramatically different from the explanation initially given to authorities.

The official findings ultimately established that Preston had suffered repeated trauma and that his death resulted from an acute upper-airway obstruction — not the accidental drowning described by Varley.

A BABY WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN SAFE

Preston entered foster care as a newborn.

He was described as happy and healthy.

He was later placed with people who were in the process of becoming his adoptive parents.

Just months later, he was dead.

The court proceedings have now established criminal responsibility through the convictions of Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.

And the evidence has transformed what initially appeared to be an unexplained household tragedy into a documented case of prolonged abuse ending in murder.

40 TRAUMATIC INJURIES.

A PHONE CONTAINING CRUCIAL EVIDENCE.

A FINAL VIDEO TIMESTAMPED HOURS BEFORE HOSPITAL.

AND A BATH-ACCIDENT ACCOUNT THAT THE MEDICAL EVIDENCE DID NOT SUPPORT.

For investigators, it was the combination of those details that finally exposed what had happened to 13-month-old Preston Davey.

And for Preston’s memory, the most important fact remains painfully simple:

He was a baby who was entrusted to adults to protect him — and the evidence presented in court established that those entrusted with his care failed him in the most devastating way.