She was a bully...
Astonishing claim by father of tragic Poppi as he refuses to answer over 250 questions
THE father of Poppi Worthington avoided 252 questions about her death – but chose to answer one to describe the 13-monthold as a ‘bully’.
Paul Worthington, who is accused of sexually assaulting the toddler before she died, sobbed as he refused to say why the toddler’s DNA was found on his genitals.
He dodged 183 questions at the inquest into Poppi’s death yesterday – in addition to the 69 he refused to answer on Wednesday. But he did respond when asked to describe his daughter, saying: ‘ Lively. Bubbly. The happy one out of the siblings. Bully, in her own little way.’
Mr Worthington, who gave evidence screened from the public and flanked by police officers armed with Tasers, became agitated yesterday as he was asked about events in the hours before Poppi died.
Alison Hewitt, counsel to the inquest, asked why the toddler’s DNA was found on his genitals on the day of her death, but he refused to answer.
The father previously told a family court hearing that his fingers were in Poppi’s mouth and that he then went to the toilet.
Yesterday he was asked whether he ‘penetrated’ his daughter himself or with an object. He again dodged the question.
Poppi’s mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sat in the hearing in Kendal, Cumbria,
‘The happy one out of the siblings’
with her head in her hands for much of her former partner’s testimony before leaving.
Coroner David Roberts made a final appeal for answers before Mr Worthington finished his evidence. He said: ‘You were an adult in this house, as well as Poppi’s father, so you are well placed to give me information if you want to. This is an opportu- nity for you to tell me anything that may... help me find how your daughter came by her death.
‘I don’t want you to go without having that opportunity. Is there anything else you would like to tell me?’ Mr Worthington replied: ‘No, sir.’
Poppi’s father answered 40 questions put to him, but dodged the rest by citing ‘Rule 22’, which allows witnesses at inquests to avoid incriminating themselves. A family court judge has previously ruled that Mr Worthington probably sexually assaulted his daughter before she collapsed at home in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, on December 12, 2012.
But the former supermarket worker escaped prosecution because of a bungled police investigation. Key evidence, including Poppi’s last nappies, the pyjama bottoms she was wearing and a computer Mr Worthington used to watch pornography, were lost.
Former police officer Lindsey Bolton told the hearing that the laptop Mr Worthington used to watch ‘adult X-rated’ porn in bed on the night Poppi died was never recovered by police and there were no ‘proactive attempts by officers to trace it.
Mr Worthington told her he had sold the laptop to a man in nearby Millom and he would try to get it back. Asked if he had made any efforts to retrieve it, Miss Bolton replied: ‘Not to my knowledge.’
Poppi’s mother told the inquest earlier this week that she was asleep downstairs when she heard a scream. Minutes later Mr Worthington rushed in holding his lifeless daughter and shouting to his ex-partner to call for an ambulance. Poppi died just over an hour later at Furness General Hospital.
In a fact-finding judgment as part of care proceedings involving Poppi’s siblings, family court judge Mr Justice Peter Jackson, now Lord Justice Peter Jackson, said Poppi’s ‘significant bleeding’ could only be sensibly explained as being the result of penetrative trauma.
Mr Worthington has never been charged and denies responsibility for his daughter’s death. The inquest continues.