'Murdered' baby had human bite mark on him, jury hears

A baby allegedly murdered by his adopted parent had a bite mark on him, a court has heard.

Former teacher Jamie Varley, 37, is accused of the murder of 13-month-old Preston Davey, while his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, is accused of allowing his death, with both accused of sexual abuse.

Pathologist Dr Alison Armour was asked to comment on a photograph of the child, taken of him in a garden paddling pool about two weeks before his death in Blackpool.

"It is my view, sir, it most likely represents a human bite mark," Dr Armour told the trial at Preston Crown Court.

• Warning: The following court evidence contains distressing information

Jurors were shown the photo, taken from a distance, showing a darker shade on the child's right buttock.

The doctor said having looked at the photo, the mark on his body was a round, circular bruise, turning slightly purple and about 3.5cm (1.3in) in diameter.

Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, asked Armour why she thought it was a bite mark.

"The size, configuration, which means the shape, are all consistent with a human bite mark," she said.

Armour also said she found other "most unusual" injuries she had never come across in her 39-year career as a consultant forensic pathologist.

The photo was one of a series of videos and images found on the phone of the defendants.

During the four months Preston was under their adoption at their home in the Lancashire town, it is alleged he was routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him, and was sexually abused and physically assaulted.

Armour was also asked her opinion on a video recovered from Varley's phone of Preston in his cot, along with two toy teddy bears, four days before his death in July 2023.

The video and images stretch over a period of three minutes and 12 seconds, with the child's head and arms over the top horizontal bar of his cot and his neck resting on the bar.

His body is apparently partially suspended, his legs in a "frog like" position and the child seemingly asleep or unconscious.

"This is very unsafe and in my view dangerous," Armour said.

"That's going to inhibit your ability to breathe."

In one still photograph, Preston's head is in a slightly different position with fluid coming from his mouth.

Armour continued: "Preston's tongue is protruding, it's blue and also his lips appear blue, consistent with a lack of oxygen in the blood."

Wright said: "In terms of a child in that position for that length of time, how safe or otherwise is such a position?"

Armour said: "This is a very prolonged period of time for a child to be in such an unsafe position."

Four days later, at about 18:20 BST on 27 July 2023, the defendants rushed Preston unconscious from their home to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Medics worked for nearly an hour to resuscitate the child but could not save him.

Varley said he had left the child alone in the bath for three or four minutes before he returned and the baby was partially submerged.

Armour, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said people who drown often swallow water but she found no water in Preston's stomach.

Armour concluded the cause of death was an upper airway obstruction, leading to Preston's collapse by a deliberate act of smothering, or an object or objects inserted into his mouth.

The post-mortem examination also found external and internal injuries including bruises to Preston's forehead, throat, mouth, bladder, bottom and bleeding in the lungs.

These were mostly non-accidental, she said, and could not be explained by the attempts by medics to save his life during resuscitation on hospital admission.

Many of the external injuries Armour described as "fingertip" bruises, consistent with gripping, prodding, poking and pinching, she said.

Dr Armour said some injuries were possibly caused by "forcible penetration".

Preston also had a bruise to the back of his throat which Armour described as "most unusual", and something she had never seen before.

There was no underlying genetic or neurological condition or infection found to explain the child's cause of death, she said.

Post-mortem photographs showed parts of the child's anatomy to be "abnormal" jurors heard.

Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of sexual assault, 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.

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.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.