Jury hears Varley police interviews in toddler murder trial

A jury at Preston Crown Court heard details of police interviews with Jamie Varley, accused of murdering 13-month-old Preston Davey, whom he and partner John McGowan-Fazackerley had adopted and renamed Elijah. The boy died on July 27, 2023, after being rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital from the couple's home on Staining Avenue in Blackpool, suffering cardiac and respiratory arrest.

Varley, 37, a former head of year and design technology teacher at South Shore Academy, faces charges of murder, sexual assault of a child under 13, inflicting grievous bodily harm, five counts of child cruelty, and multiple counts related to making, taking, and distributing indecent images. McGowan-Fazackerley, 32, is charged with causing or allowing the child's death, child cruelty, and sexual assault of a child under 13. Both men deny the allegations.

On Thursday, jurors viewed footage from Varley's September 2023 police interviews after his arrest on suspicion of murder. He maintained that he left the boy alone in a bath seat while changing into pyjamas, returning to find him slipped under the water. Informed that postmortem results ruled out drowning, Varley insisted, "I believe it was caused...