Final betrayal of Poppi
Case closed as toddler’s ‘sex abuser’ father once again escapes being prosecuted over her death
POPPI Worthington’ s father will not face police charges – despite a coroner and judge both ruling that he sexually assaulted the 13- month- old toddler before she died.
An MP last night called for a public inquiry into the police blunders that blighted the investigation after prosecutors ruled out reviewing evidence in the case – effectively closing it after four attempts at prosecuting Paul Worthington.
Earlier this year, a coroner said Worthington had assaulted Poppi before she died in his bed. A similar conclusion was reached by a family division judge in 2016.
At the inquest, Worthington, 49, refused to answer questions about Poppi’s death, relying 252 times on his right to remain silent under inquest rules designed to prevent people incriminating themselves. But yesterday the Crown Prosecution Service ruled out what would have been a fourth review of evidence, saying no new information had been produced.
Three attempts at a prosecution have failed, primarily because of a lack of evidence gathered by police at the time of Poppi’s death in 2012 in Barrow in Furness, Cumbria.
They were in March 2015, following a referral from police; in June 2016, following the outcome of a Family Court hearing; and in November 2016, when the decision not to prosecute was subject to a Victim’s Right to Review application. Yesterday’s decision brought an angry response from Poppi’s mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Her solicitor Fiona McGhie said she was ‘extremely disappointed’.
‘The past five years have been a complete nightmare for her,’ she added. ‘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.’
Worthington – who is in hiding – yesterday told his sister that ‘nothing had changed.’
Tracy Worthington, 45, said: ‘Paul’s not jumping for joy at this decision. His life is in limbo and he cannot even see his kids. He maintains he never did anything wrong to Poppi and I believe him as he is not that type of person.’
Barrow MP John Woodcock has called for a public inquiry into the police mishandling of the case. He said: ‘This fresh knock-back was expected but it stings because it is a fresh reminder of the terrible failings in the police investigation that have made a criminal conviction so difficult.’
Investigators failed to secure the family home and did not collect key evidence, including the bed sheets Poppi was taken to hospital on and the computer on which Worthington watched pornography the night before her death. A pathologist warned that Poppi may have been sexually assaulted, but police did not order forensic tests of samples from her body.
Worthington was not arrested until August 2013, and no charges were brought. An inquest into Poppi’s death lasted just seven minutes and ruled that her death was ‘unexplained’ – although it was later quashed and a new hearing ordered. Worthington tried to win custody of Poppi’s siblings in the family division of the High Court, but Mr Justice Jackson ruled he had probably abused his daughter before her death.
He also came to the same conclusion ruling on an appeal from Worthington in January 2016.
In January, Cumbria coroner David Roberts concluded that – on the balance of probabilities – Poppi had been sexually assaulted before her death by her father.
Yesterday the CPS said that following the second inquest a prosecutor had examined the case but had decided against what would have been a fourth full review.
Saying the case featured ‘starkly opposed medical opinion’, while much potential evidence was lacking due to police ‘failings’, it said no new witnesses had been called by the coroner. The CPS said its position would be reconsidered if ‘significant new evidence’ emerged.
An Independent Police Complaints Commission report was highly critical of Cumbria Police. Yesterday its temporary Deputy Chief Constable Mark Webster said: ‘I acknowledge and respect the decision made by the CPS.’