There will be no further investigation into the death of 13-month-old Poppi Worthington, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.
The toddler’s mother is “extremely disappointed” the latest inquest was “not enough” to prompt a further review of the case by the CPS, her lawyer has said.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had previously called for prosecutors to look again at her daughter’s case after a third court judgement said her daughter was sexually assaulted before her death.
Earlier this year David Roberts, the senior coroner for Cumbria, concluded the toddler was assaulted in her father Paul Worthington’s double bed at the family home in Barrow-in-Furness in the early hours of December 12, 2012.
Mr Roberts decided that Poppi died as a result of being placed in an unsafe sleeping environment which had compromised her breathing. The coroner decided the sexual assault was unconnected to her death.
The CPS was given a copy of the coroner’s verdict in order to establish whether there were grounds to reconsider the decision not to prosecute.
This would only happen if new evidence had emerged at the inquest which was capable of affecting that decision.
“The coroner’s verdict has now been considered carefully. No new witness was called at the inquest whose evidence had not already been considered by the CPS prosecutors,” the CPS said, confirming that there will not be a fourth full review of this case.
The lawyer acting for Poppi’s mother said she “was also left disappointed that Poppi’s father chose to rely on his right not to answer many questions which may incriminate him at the inquest”.
She added: “While she understands he was entitled to do this, she considers that the coroner’s inquiry was frustrated by this.”
“The past five years have been a complete nightmare for her. Not knowing what happened to Poppi on that day, and knowing that there were evidence gathering failures by the police in the very early stages of the investigation has made things even worse. Although she is now closer to the devastating truth, it is likely that she may never get full closure on exactly what happened that night.”
Medical opinions gathered during the case have differed starkly, with the Family Court judge saying: “The pathological evidence revealed a world of small differences and strong feelings.”
Cumbria Constabulary has accepted that there were failings in the investigation. The CPS say this meant that sources of evidence one might expect to find in such a case were absent.
Three reviews were conducted between March 2015 and November 2016. The three different prosecutors decided that there was not enough evidence to “provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.
From – SkyNews
