Khaberni - The court in the city of Preston, UK heard today, Tuesday that a teacher accused of sexual assault and murder of an infant he was trying to adopt described him as "dead meat" (his case was over) and joked about killing him.
Jamie Farley (37 years old) made these comments in text messages to his friends and relatives days after placing the child, Preston Devi, who was then nine months old, under his care.
Farley and his gay partner John McGowan-Vazakerli (32 years old) had successfully applied to adopt the child, who was removed from his biological mother shortly after his birth. The infant died at the age of 13 months, on July 27, 2023, just four months after being placed under their care.
In one of the text messages sent to his sister, who was described as a nanny and trained in children's sleeping habits, Farley admitted that the couple was struggling and wrote: "He's dead meat" (his case was over). He added, "He didn’t sleep last night past 11:30 PM. He wakes up every hour and a half".
Four days later, he sent a video of Preston in a baby walker to his mother, Karen Graham, who responded, saying: "What a clever boy", to which Farley jokingly replied, "That was before he was killed and put to bed".
“Preston Crown Court” heard that Farley and McGowan-Vazakerli, a sales representative, had passed "rigorous" adoption screening processes for Preston, who was under the care of Oldham City Council, before being officially placed with them on April 3, 2023. However, the couple immediately faced difficulties in caring for the young child, who was allergic to milk, and was described by the previous caregiver (the foster mother), Sandra Cooper, as one of the "worst sleeping children" she had cared for during nearly 25 years.
After the first night the child spent at the couple's home in Blackpool, Lancashire, Farley sent a message to his friend saying, "After an hour of him rejecting the milk and the pacifier, I wanted to put him in the field with the cows, but he woke up as bright as sunshine and beautiful as usual."
The next day, Farley complained to another colleague about their frustration because Preston did not follow a sleep routine because he was "overly pampered" by Ms. Cooper, who "spoiled him" and "held him at every cry".
In other messages, Farley, who had taken leave from his teaching job to care for Preston, described the infant as "annoying" and "whiny", and "he cries all day and night". Farley wrote, "I love him so much but he’s killing us". He added, "He cries when you hold him, you can't put him down only for a few minutes, and he cries all night. He wakes up every hour and a half to two hours... If we leave the room, he screams".
Text messages presented to the jury hinted at tensions in the couple's relationship just a few days after Preston came to live with them. In one of them, McGowan-Vazakerli said to Farley, "I can't keep trying any more than this. I will no longer be physically violent with you; you are breaking my heart". Farley replied: "You will end up going somewhere else, so it's better that we break up".
The prosecution attorney, Peter Wright (K.C), stated that Preston was a "happy and healthy" child when placed with the accused, but over four months, he was subjected to "routine mistreatment, sexual assault, and physical assault".
The infant was taken to the hospital by the couple on three separate occasions before his death, including once due to a broken arm. However, each time, the couple found explanations for the suspicious bruises to doctors, who failed to raise any child protection concerns.
However, on the evening of July 27, 2023, McGowan-Vazakerli returned from work to find Farley trying to resuscitate Preston in a state of "panic", as told to the jury. They transported the child, who was suffering from cardiac arrest, to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, but he could not be saved.
An autopsy revealed that the child had suffered 40 internal and external injuries, including severe bruises on the back of his throat. A forensic doctor concluded that he had been strangled and died due to "acute obstruction of the upper airway".
Farley and McGowan-Vazakerli were later arrested that day on suspicion of negligence. Farley claimed that he was bathing Preston when he stepped away briefly and returned to find him drowning. However, Wright affirmed that the forensic evidence does not support this narrative of events, and the prosecution's case is that Preston had earlier that day suffered two serious sexual assaults by Farley that caused his death.
Meanwhile, Farley denies charges of murder, sexual assault, and grievous bodily harm (GBH), along with four charges related to child cruelty, and fourteen charges related to the manufacture and possession of indecent images of a child, and one charge related to the distribution of an indecent image of a child.
McGowan-Vazakerli denies a charge of causing or allowing the death of a child and two charges related to cruelty to children. The two also face two additional joint charges related to sexual assault and cruelty to children. The trial, which is expected to last six to eight weeks, continues.
