The Police Ombudsman has concluded that the initial police investigation into the death of Co Armagh woman Katie Simpson was ‘flawed’ and ‘failed the Simpson family’.
Katie Simpson was driven part-way to Altnagelvin Hospital on August 3, 2020 by Jonathan Creswell, the man subsequently arrested and charged with her murder.
En route to the hospital, Katie was transferred to an ambulance and Creswell, who was driving Katie’s car, told paramedics and the two police officers who had responded to a request for assistance from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), that Katie had attempted to take her own life.
Police were also told by Creswell and another person that Katie had recently been injured in a fall from a horse.
Katie died in hospital without regaining consciousness on August 10, 2020.
In the months which followed, police treated Katie’s death as a suicide, despite multiple reports from members of the public and concerns expressed by some police officers, that she was subject to controlling and coercive behaviour by Jonathan Creswell and that such a suicide attempt was considered out of character.
Police also knew in the early phase of the investigation that Creswell had been convicted for assaulting his former partner in 2009.
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.
“Although it is clear that this intelligence was viewed and logged by police, it did not change the direction of the police investigation.
“There appeared to be a general lack of an investigative mindset which contributed to shortcomings in evidence identification and retrieval, scene management and identification, a willingness to accept at face value the accounts from Jonathan Creswell, and ultimately confusion around the ownership of the police investigation,” said Hugh Hume, Police Ombudsman Chief Executive, speaking after the investigation findings were given to the Simpson family.
The investigation found that there were no effective searches carried out at Katie’s address and that no supervisory officer attended the house at the initial stages of the investigation.
Although Katie’s car, which Creswell had driven to meet the ambulance, was seized on August 3 for forensic examination, only a search of the car was conducted.
The search recovered two mobile phones which were old devices attributed to Katie. Devices in the house were not seized, nor considered, and no other action was taken to establish the existence, and whereabouts, of Katie’s mobile phone.
Its location was only discovered following a criminal interview with Jonathan Creswell after his arrest in March 2021. It had been hidden in a field.
No forensic examination of the car ever took place.
Among the other investigative failings identified by the Police Ombudsman was the lack of consideration given to gathering potential physical evidence from Katie herself, including blood samples and photographs of her injuries and, despite police being aware at an early stage that she was unlikely to survive.
No enquiries were conducted to establish the circumstances of Katie’s alleged fall from a horse.
CCTV footage which showed Creswell leaving and returning to Katie’s address on the August 3, and a woman taking a bag from the house and putting it in a second car, was not pursued as a line of enquiry. This was despite one of the first responding officers noting the delay between the ambulance leaving with Katie, at which point Creswell was told to follow, and his eventual arrival at the hospital in a different car, accompanied by a woman.
Enquiries did not take place with Katie’s family and friends to see if they had any concerns and to gain a greater understanding of Katie’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.
“Ownership of the case was initially assigned to an inexperienced officer from a Local Policing Team, despite more experienced officers in local policing, CID and MIT being fully aware that the officer had neither the experience nor capacity to manage a case of this nature.
“When concerns were raised early in the investigation, particularly in respect of Jonathan Creswell’s history of violent and controlling behaviour, it was the clear duty of those more experienced officers to ensure there was proper supervision, guidance and control.”
“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.
“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” said Mr Hume.
Police Ombudsman Recommendations
The Police Ombudsman investigation 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.
Policy Recommendations
As a result of the investigation, the Police Ombudsman also made three policy recommendations which are intended to improve operational policing in the future.
The Police Ombudsman recommended that:
- the service instruction in relation to death investigations be reviewed and updated to include incidents resulting in life threatening injuries. The PSNI subsequently developed a Death Investigation Manual as an appropriate framework for guidance to officers.
- sudden deaths and incidents resulting in life threatening injuries require the attendance of a Detective Sergeant to take operational command of the incident. PSNI did not accept this recommendation on the basis that it was not proportionate and that a uniformed sergeant was sufficient.
- 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. PSNI accepted this recommendation and updated the police computer system supervisions standards to reflect this requirement.
In recent months, the Police Ombudsman has received two new complaints, one of which is linked to the original investigation. It includes allegations, which may amount to criminal wrongdoing, against a member of the police service.
This means that the Office has been unable to share details of a specific element of our investigation with the family and other complainants, and has also impacted on our ability, at this stage, to place into the public domain the detail behind the findings which the family have received today.
This is to maintain the integrity of this fresh investigation and to ensure fairness for any police officer involved.
The Office intends to allocate dedicated resources to the fresh investigation. Once concluded and the findings considered by the appropriate bodies, a further update will be provided.
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