Police Ombudsman finds PSNI investigation into Katie Simpson death ‘failed the Simpson family’

Katie Simpson was driven part-way to Altnagelvin on August 3, 2020 by Jonathan Creswell, the man subsequently arrested and charged with her murder.

The PONI noted how en route to the hospital, Katie was transferred to an ambulance and Creswell, who was driving Katie’s car, told paramedics and two officers who had responded to a request for assistance from the Ambulance Service (NIAS), that Katie had attempted to take her own life.

Police were told by Creswell and another person Katie had recently been injured falling from a horse.

Katie died in hospital 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 Creswell.

Police knew in the early phase Creswell had been convicted for assaulting his former partner in 2009, the Ombudsman said.

The PONI 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, PONI Chief Executive.

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

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 Creswell after his arrest in March 2021. It was hidden in a field.

No forensic examination of the car ever took place.

Among the other failings was the lack of consideration given to gathering potential physical evidence from Katie herself, including blood samples and photographs of her injuries.

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 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 there was no clear witness strategy until January 2021.

This resulted in missed opportunities to take accounts from potential witnesses.

PONI found the investigation, which straddled three departments until transferring to MIT in January 2021, was affected by insufficient oversight.

“Ownership of the case was initially assigned to an inexperienced officer from a Local Policing Team, despite more experienced officers in local policing, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Major Investigation Team (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.

The PONI investigation identified breaches of the PSNI Code of Ethics in respect of professional duty, the conduct of police investigations and the duty of supervisors.

Disciplinary recommendations were made in respect of six officers. Proceedings were unable to be held for two officers who had retired.

For one officer, no misconduct was proven.

One officer received a written warning.

One officer received action aimed at improving performance

One officer received management advice.

PONI made three policy recommendations:

- the service instruction in relation to death investigations be reviewed and updated to include incidents resulting in life threatening injuries. The PSNI developed a Death Investigation Manual as an appropriate framework.

- 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.

In recent months, the PONI 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 PONI has been unable to share details of a specific element of its investigation with the family and other complainants, and has impacted on our ability, at this stage, to place into the public domain the detail behind the findings.