The watchdog found police failed to follow up on suspicious circumstancesPolice Ombudsman chief said “if not for concerns raised by a small number of individuals, there is every likelihood Katie’s death would have been recorded as suicide”Jonathan Creswell was charged with the murder of the 21-year-old, but took his own life one day into his trial
A report by the Police Ombudsman found multiple failures, including a willingness to believe the account of Jonathan Creswell, who was later charged with her murder.
Ms Simpson (21) died in hospital six days after being admitted in August 2020.
The PSNI initially accepted the word of her sister’s boyfriend Jonathan Creswell when he claimed he had found her trying to kill herself. He was later charged with her murder, but took his own life one day into his trial earlier this year.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher later said “It is abundantly clear we got things wrong from the beginning” in the investigation into her death and said “huge lessons” were to be learned from it.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – 12th November 2024
In a report published this morning, the ombudsman found police initially treated Ms Simpson’s death as a suicide and were influenced by Creswell’s misleading account of events, despite evidence and reports indicating controlling and coercive behaviour by him and members of the public advocating that a suicide attempt by Ms Simpson “was considered out of character.”
It also concludes police knew in the early phase of the investigation that Creswell had been previously convicted for assaulting his former partner in 2009.
No thorough searches or forensic examinations were conducted at Ms Simpson’s home, and police took Creswell’s story, which includes telling police that Ms Simpson had recently been injured from falling from a horse, at face value.
Ms Simpson’s car, which was driven by Creswell to take her to hospital before she was transferred to the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was seized on 3 August for forensic examination – but only a search of the car was conducted.
A search which did take place only recovered two mobile phones which were old devices attributed to Ms Simpson and devices in the house were not seized, nor considered, and no other action was taken to establish the existence, and whereabouts, of her latest mobile phone which was later found hidden by Creswell in a field in March 2021.
Other investigative failings identified by the Police Ombudsman “was the lack of consideration given to gathering potential physical evidence from Ms Simpson herself” including blood samples and photographs of her injuries and, despite police being aware at an early stage that she was unlikely to survive.
The case was also assigned to an inexperienced officer without sufficient oversight from senior departments, despite early concerns about Creswell’s violent history.
Jonathan Creswell was later charged with Ms Simpson’s murder, but died one day into this trial earlier this year.
The report also found there were “missed opportunities” by police to take accounts from potential witnesses who could have been valuable to the investigation and enquiries with Ms Simpson’s family and friends to see if they had any concerns and to gain a greater understanding of Katie’s life were not recorded until January 2021.
The Police Ombudsman investigation concluded that the police investigation was hindered by the misleading working assumption adopted by a number of officers that Katie’s injuries were self-inflicted.
“Intelligence received by police both prior to, and following, Katie’s death referenced that she may have been the victim of controlling behaviours, that the attempted suicide was suspicious, that Katie had not fallen from a horse, and that medical staff had also expressed concerns about the circumstances of Katie’s injuries,” added Mr Hume.
Police also failed to follow up on suspicious circumstances, like CCTV footage showing Creswell leaving and returning to Ms Simpson’s address on August 3, and a woman taking a bag from the house and putting it in a second car, which was not pursued as a line of enquiry.
In addition, enquiries did not take place with the Simpson family and friends to see if they had any concerns and to gain a greater understanding of Ms Simpson’s life, and there was no clear witness strategy recorded until January 2021.
This resulted in missed opportunities to take accounts from potential witnesses who could have been valuable to the investigation.
The Police Ombudsman also found that the police investigation, which straddled three separate departments – Local Policing Team (LPT), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Major Investigation Team (MIT) – until it was transferred to a MIT in January 2021, was affected by insufficient oversight and guidance.
“If not for concerns raised by a small number of individuals, both inside and outside the PSNI, there is every likelihood that Katie’s death would have been recorded as a suicide,” said Police Ombudsman chief Hugh Hume
“That would have deprived her family and friends of any opportunity for justice, which was ultimately denied them by Creswell’s death.
“It would, however, also have exposed members of the public, particularly young women, to the continued risk posed by Creswell, whose actions, had they gone undetected, may have become increasingly emboldened.”
The Police Ombudsman investigation also identified breaches of the PSNI Code of Ethics in respect of professional duty, the conduct of police investigations and the duty of supervisors.
As a result, disciplinary recommendations were made to the PSNI in respect of six police officers. These were considered by the PSNI, and resulted in the following outcomes:
• Disciplinary proceedings were unable to be held in the case of two police officers who had retired. • In the case of one police officer, no misconduct was proven. • One police officer received a written warning. • One police officer received action aimed at improving performance • One police officer received management advice.
The ombudsman also provided three recommendations to the PSNI following in the report, two of which were accepted and one of which was rejected.
The first recommendation was the service instruction in relation to death investigations “be reviewed and updated to include incidents resulting in life threatening injuries” with police subsequently developing a Death Investigation Manual as an appropriate framework for guidance to officers.
It also said that sudden deaths and incidents resulting in life threatening injuries “require the attendance of a Detective Sergeant to take operational command of the incident”. This recommendation was rejected on the basis that it was not proportionate and that a uniformed sergeant was sufficient.
The report also recommended that cases which are transferred in ownership “are properly reviewed and records made on the investigation log at the point of transfer to ensure there is clear accountability.” The PSNI accepted this recommendation and updated the police computer system supervisions standards to reflect this requirement.
