Initial investigation into Katie Simpson death was ‘flawed’ and ‘failed her family’, Police Ombudsman finds

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.

On the way to the hospital, she was transferred to an ambulance and Creswell, who was driving Ms Simpson’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 she had attempted to take her own life.

Police were also told by Creswell and another person that Ms Simpson had recently been injured in a fall from a horse.

Ms Simpson died in hospital without regaining consciousness on August 10, 2020.

In the months which followed, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) treated Ms Simpson’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 Creswell and that such a suicide attempt was considered out of character.

Officers 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 Ms Simpson’s injuries were self-inflicted.

The PSNI has acknowledge that there were “shortcomings in various stages of the investigation” into Ms Simpson’s death.

Speaking after the investigation findings were given to the Simpson family, Hugh Hume, Police Ombudsman chief executive, said: “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.”

The investigation found that there were no effective searches carried out at Ms Simpson’s address and that no supervisory officer attended the house at the initial stages of the investigation.

Although her 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 Ms Simpson. Devices in the house were not seized, nor considered, and no other action was taken to establish the existence, and whereabouts, of Ms Simpson’s mobile phone. Its location was only discovered following a criminal interview with Creswell after his arrest in March 2021. It had been hidden in a field.

No forensic examination of the car ever took place, said the Police Ombudsman.

Among the 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.

No inquiries were conducted to establish the circumstances of Ms Simpson’s alleged fall from a horse.

CCTV footage, which showed Creswell leaving and returning to Ms Simpson’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 inquiry.

This was despite one of the first responding officers noting the delay between the ambulance leaving with Ms Simpson, at which point Creswell was told to follow, and his eventual arrival at the hospital in a different car, accompanied by a woman.

“Inquiries 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,” said the Police Ombudsman. “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 LPT, 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,” said Mr Hume.

“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.”

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; and
• One police officer received management advice.

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 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,” the Police Ombudsman said.

“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.”

In a statement, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said: “First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest sympathy to Katie’s family and friends who have had to live with unimaginable pain and suffering as they continue to come to terms with the utterly shocking circumstances of her death.

“No family should ever have to experience what they are going through.

“I acknowledge that there were shortcomings in various stages of the investigation into Katie’s death and I unreservedly apologise for this.

“It is clear that we were not rigorous enough in our pursuit of all potential lines of inquiry and did not act quickly enough in responding to some of the concerns that were raised around Katie’s death.

“We relied too much on the lack of any presenting medical evidence around what had happened to Katie when she was first admitted to hospital and on the forensic post-mortem that was conducted on August 11, 2020.

“Our systems failed to identify Creswell’s previous related, serious offending. We acknowledge this and reaffirm our position that we must and will do better, moving forward.”

He added: “As a result of these shortcomings, the Police Ombudsman recommended misconduct proceedings in relation to six officers. However, it is important to note that this is less about individual officers’ actions and more about our organisation not getting things right from the outset.

“We are absolutely committed to learning from this case and recommendations from the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland have already been actioned. I am determined that the PSNI will be a victim-focused organisation and will proactively tackle violence against women and girls, controlling and coercive behaviour, and all forms of misogyny.

“We are now in year three of the PSNI’s Violence Against Women and Girls action plan and have made significant progress with 33 out of 41 actions completed in years one and two.

“Whilst violence against women and girls is a societal issue and is one which we cannot deal with on our own, we have worked diligently with local community groups and support services over the last two years to develop specialist training packages, and the experiences of women and girls are at the forefront of this.

“We are not complacent and will continue to hold a mirror to our organisation, challenging ourselves at every opportunity. Actions which are currently being developed include supporting the safer night-time economy strategy for Northern Ireland, reviewing standards and behaviours, training for our people and reviewing the service policy in relation to the Death Investigation Procedure.

“Too many women and girls are caught in a cycle of fear and violence, too afraid to come forward.  I urge victims to speak to us – we are here to listen, to help and to keep you safe. There is much work to be done but we will continue to be unyielding in our investigations into violence, intimidation and abuse of women and girls.

“I’m mindful that, even as I speak, Katie’s loving family and close friends continue to suffer terribly, and my thoughts are with them.”