A teacher has been found guilty of murdering and sexually abusing a 13-month-old boy he adopted with his partner. Jamie Varley, 37, was convicted of murder, two counts of assault by penetration, 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 count of distributing an indecent photo of a child, and one count of making an indecent photo. His partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was found guilty of allowing the death of a child, two counts of child cruelty, and one count of sexual assault of a child. The trial at Preston Crown Court revealed that Preston Davey, who died in July 2023, suffered 40 traumatic injuries and routine ill-treatment during the four months he lived with the pair in Blackpool. While Varley initially told police the child accidentally drowned in a bath, a post-mortem examination ruled out drowning, finding the cause of death to be acute upper airways obstruction by objects inserted into the child’s mouth. The court heard that the child was also subjected to the taking of indecent images and videos. The defendants, who were approved for adoption in April 2023, will be sentenced on Thursday. Following the verdicts, the judge informed the jury they would be exempt from jury service for life. Oldham Council and the regional adoption agency, Adoption Now, both stated that an independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review is underway to examine the handling of the child’s safeguarding. In a separate legal matter, Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday. The Oslo district court found him guilty of two counts of rape and one count of domestic violence, while acquitting him of two other rape charges. Høiby, who pleaded not guilty to the most serious accusations, was also ordered to pay compensation to the victims. His lawyers stated he is satisfied with the acquittals but intends to appeal the convictions for rape and domestic abuse.