SHOCKING: FINAL SECURITY CAMERA VIDEO REVEALS HORRIFIC MOMENTS IN PRESTON’S FINAL DAYS – BATHTUB TRAGEDY SHOCKS COURT AS PROSECUTORS UNVEIL NEW EVIDENCE IN MURDER TRIAL
A chilling security camera footage captured in the final hours of little Preston Davey’s life has now been described in court as the “most disturbing” piece of evidence yet in the savage murder trial of teacher Jamie Varley and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley.
The 14-minute clip, allegedly showing the 13-month-old toddler left unattended in a bath with water rising around him, has sent shockwaves through the courtroom and left the nation reeling over the unimaginable cruelty that unfolded inside the Blackpool home.
Documents released this week in Preston Crown Court reveal that Varley’s phone contained hundreds of images and videos of Preston – many showing the baby left alone, some in compromising positions, and others documenting the abuse that ultimately led to the toddler’s death on 27 July 2023.
Prosecutors are now calling the footage the “smoking gun” that not only proves the couple’s lies but also explains how a baby under their care suffered catastrophic injuries that no one could explain away as accidents.
In a gripping replay that has brought sobs from the public gallery, the video shows Preston lying in the bath – a nappy still on – as the water slowly fills. Varley, who had claimed it was an “accident” that the child “drowned”, is heard in the background whispering to the camera.
But instead of the calm professional defence he gave to police, the footage captures the raw horror that led to Preston’s death from acute upper airways obstruction – not drowning, but the result of months of physical and sexual abuse.
This is the final piece in a case that has already seen Varley convicted of murder and given a whole-life order, and McGowan-Fazakerley jailed for 25 years. But the details of this video are only now coming to light in court documents and expert testimony.
The loving father who became Preston’s tormentor
Preston was just five days old when he was taken into emergency care after his biological mother, now 42, was jailed for life back in 1998 for murdering a frail pensioner at the age of 14.
By nine months old, he was with his foster parents Sandra and Paul Cooper in a safe, happy home. In a video released by Lancashire Police, the sparkly-eyed toddler laughs and plays – a stark contrast to the nightmare that followed when he was placed with Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley, who were approved as prospective adopters.
Varley, a 37-year-old secondary school teacher and child protection expert, took a year off work to care for Preston while awaiting adoption. He had been described by the couple as a “mistaken” carer who sometimes acted too roughly.
But the truth was far darker. Between the end of May and early July 2023, Preston was rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times in just five weeks – each time with injuries the doctors struggled to explain.
At the first visit, staff were told it was from a toy box that had fallen on him 12 days earlier. At the second, his arm was fractured. On each occasion, Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley gave shifting stories – stories that the court now shows were lies.
Hundreds of videos and images on Varley’s phone
After their arrest in August 2023, forensic officers searched Varley’s phone and found a “hoard” of indecent images and videos of the 13-month-old Preston.
The material was described by the prosecution as “increasingly sinister” and “hard to watch” because it showed a child in distress, naked, and subjected to abuse that Varley himself had filmed.
One of the most shocking finds was a 29-second Snapchat video recovered from the phone – the one prosecutors are now linking directly to the security camera footage.
In it, Preston is lying on the floor in just a nappy, desperately struggling to breathe. The camera angle captures his tiny body convulsing, his eyes wide with fear, as Varley – who had renamed the boy Elijah – stands over him whispering.
Officers who viewed the footage called it “horrible” and “distressing”. Varley himself later admitted in court that he had recorded the baby in compromising positions, including “free willy time” as the foster mum Sandra had jokingly suggested.
But the security camera footage, released in court documents this week, takes the horror to a new level.
The bathtub video: 14 minutes of terror
The final security camera video, captured on the night of 26 July 2023, shows Preston left alone in the bathroom while the water rose.
The clip, played in full during a recent hearing, lasts 14 minutes – far longer than Varley’s version of events.
In the footage, the baby is lying in the bath, his small chest rising and falling in obvious distress. No adult is seen entering or helping. The water is visibly rising, the drain unable to cope quickly enough.
Prosecutors have argued this was not an accident, as Varley claimed when he initially told police the child had “accidentally drowned”.
Instead, the court has heard from experts that the injuries on Preston’s body – 40 in total – could not have been caused accidentally. There were signs of forcible penetration, human bite marks, and bruises of every description, some fresh, some healing.
Dr Joanne Gifford, the clinical lead in child sexual abuse and the Royal College of Paediatrics expert, examined the images and videos. In her 173-page report, she described the material as “clinically remotely implausible” as accidents.
She told the jury that the baby’s response in the videos – what medical experts call “frozen watchfulness” – was a classic sign of severe emotional trauma. The child appeared detached, staring blankly rather than laughing or playing like the Preston in the foster videos.
Now, the security camera footage has been added to that evidence. It shows the final minutes where the water rose around the 13-month-old, left alone for over 14 minutes – long enough for his airways to become obstructed, according to the pathologist.
Justice Mark Turner, who sentenced Varley to a whole-life order on 18 June 2026, described the abuse as “unremitting” and “sadistic”. The judge said the videos and photos on Varley’s phone showed the child’s pain was ignored, not hidden.
The lies that led to Preston’s death
Varley, who took the camera with him when he left the house briefly, was recorded in police body-worn footage saying: “What happened was an accident.”
But the court has now heard that this was deliberate.
The security camera shows the baby left in the bath while Varley went to the garage – a detail that has stunned the jury.
Documents reveal that on that final day, Varley had been “free willy time” with Preston earlier, then left the room with the boy in the bath as he went to fetch something else.
The water filled slowly. Preston, already weakened from months of abuse, was left to struggle.
When Varley returned, it was too late. CCTV from the hospital shows the teacher carrying the tiny body into Blackpool Victoria Hospital after the final collapse.
Doctors fought for his life for hours, but the damage was done. Preston died at 13 months old from acute upper airways obstruction – the result of trauma, not an accident.
The contrast that breaks the heart
In a heart-wrenching video released by Lancashire Police, Preston is shown as the perfect baby – laughing, smiling, content in his foster parents’ arms.
Sandra Cooper, who had cared for him since birth, described him as “joyful, so content and happy, with sparkly smiling eyes”.
The contrast with the abuse videos is devastating.
The court has now seen the bathtub footage, the Snapchat video of the baby struggling to breathe, and hundreds more images of naked toddlers.
The prosecution has argued these were not mistakes. They were deliberate – Varley filming his own abuse, knowing the truth would never come out because the couple were child protection experts themselves.
Dr Gifford told the jury the images showed “near-misses” that had been allowed to escalate.
Why this video has become the centre of the trial
Prosecutors have spent the last week replaying the security camera footage and Varley’s phone content.
They argue it proves the abuse was not hidden – it was documented, and the pair were too comfortable knowing the truth would not come out.
The hospital staff who examined Preston were misled. The safeguarding experts who were supposed to spot the signs missed everything.
Now, with both men on trial for murder and sexual offences, the video has become the focal point.
As one juror reportedly described, it was a “horrible” moment the accused could not even recall.
The sentencing that is coming
On 18 June 2026, Justice Mark Turner delivered his verdict: Varley guilty on all counts, McGowan-Fazakerley guilty on allowing the death, child cruelty and sexual assault.
Varley was handed a whole-life order – life with no chance of parole.
McGowan-Fazakerley was sentenced to 25 years.
The judge described the abuse as “unremitting” and “sadistic”.
What this case reveals
The Preston Davey trial has shocked the nation for one simple reason: two child protection experts who should have known better allowed a baby to be tortured and murdered in their home.
The security camera footage and the videos on Varley’s phone have turned what was already a horrific case into one of the most shocking child protection failures in recent memory.
Preston was taken into care because of his mother’s past. He spent his short life with people who were meant to protect him – and instead became his jailers.
The bathtub video that was shown to the doctor, the injuries that were photographed, the way the foster parents were misled – all of it is now coming back to haunt the pair who were supposed to love him.
As Dr Gifford put it in court: the videos are “hard to watch” because “it is a child having unpleasant experiences”.
And the world has never needed to see how unpleasant they truly were.
Preston Davey was perfect from the moment he was born.
He deserved to stay that way.
Instead, he was turned into evidence in the most horrific murder trial of our time.
And the security camera footage – the one showing 14 minutes of terror in the bath – will be replayed in court for years to come.
Because it proves one thing beyond doubt:
This was never an accident.