Preston had been taken into care by Oldham Council shortly after his birth in June 2022 and lived with foster parents until April 2023, when he was adopted by the defendants, living at their home on Staining Road, Blackpool.
Earlier in the trial, which began on Monday, Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, said in the just under four months the child was in the defendants’ care he had been routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him, had been sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering 40 traumatic injuries.
On 27 July 2023 Preston was rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital by the defendants, unconscious and in a state of cardiac arrest and died shortly afterwards.
Varley told police he had left the child in the bath and minutes later returned to find him drowning, Preston Crown Court heard.
Wright said this explanation was inconsistent with the evidence from the post-mortem, which found multiple non-accidental, internal and external injuries and gave a cause of death as either smothering or the insertion of an object or objects into the youngster’s mouth.
Varley denies murder, manslaughter, 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 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 is expected to restart with a new jury on Monday next week.