Gates offers Nigeria £55m for polio debt
A coroner said yesterday that tot Poppi Worthington WAS sexually abused by her dad before she died from asphyxia.. yet still he is free
GENEROUS Bill Gates BILL Gates is helping Nigeria to battle polio by paying off £ 55million of debt owed to Japan.
The cash- strapped country borrowed the money in 2014 for a project to wipe out the disease.
It proved hugely successful as no new cases of wild poliovirus were reported in 2017 and there were just four in 2016.
Nigeria’s government has now accepted help from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to start paying back the loan over the next four years.
Microsoft founder Mr Gates and his wife have made eradicating polio one of their top priorities.
Since 1994, the couple have giv en away £27.2billion to a range of charitable causes.
POPPI Worthington was sexually assaulted by her father before she died but he may never face justice because of the botched police probe, an MP has warned.
Cumbria’s coroner David Roberts yesterday found 13-month-old Poppi was asphyxiated in an “unsafe sleeping environment” after her dad Paul took her into his bed and assaulted her.
After the inquest, Barrow MP John Woodcock warned that Poppi’s mother may never get justice due to the “grotesque failings” of the police.
But he added: “We owe it to her to campaign for a public inquiry that can expose all that is rotten in the system that has led us to this terrible day.”
Mr Worthington, 50, has not been charged with any offence as the CPS said there was insufficient evidence.
Their spokesman said there were no plans to review that decision but did add: “We would of course consider any referral from the coroner.” Yesterday’s inquest verdict came more than five years after Poppi died at her home in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
Delivering a narrative verdict, Mr Roberts told how Poppi’s mother was sleeping downstairs when she heard a piercing scream in the early hours of December 12, 2012.
The scream had marked the moment when Poppi had suffered the penetration injuries, which had “caused bruising to the anus”.
Mr Robert said Poppi had then been “placed back into her nappy, but not her pyjama bottoms, and the poppers on her vest were not re-fastened”.
Poppi’s breathing had later been “compromised”, either due to the position of the bedclothes, her position on the bed, her father lying on top of her, or a “combination of all three”. The post mortem examination found evidence of an “upper respiratory tract infection” and a “tiny focus” of pneumonia, but this would not have accounted for her death. Mr Roberts said: “She was in an unsafe sleeping environment. When father awoke he discovered that Poppi was no longer breathing and, shortly before 5.56am, he took her downstairs in an unresponsive state. I find that she was, in fact, dead at that point. The cause of death is asphyxia.”
He said a conclusion of unlawful killing was not available to him as he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Poppi died from an act of murder or manslaughter.
Mr Worthington had answered so few questions during the inquest it was impossible to judge “his honesty and credibility”. His account of the final
We owe it to Poppi’s mother to campaign for a public inquiry
JOHN WOODCOCK MP FOR BARROW hours of Poppi’s life was simply not credible, Mr Roberts ruled, and police failings meant there was “missing evidence”.
Poppi’s mother, who cannot be named, called on the CPS to take action against her former partner.
Her solicitor Fiona McGhie said: “This is the third time a court has found that, on the balance of probabilities, Poppi has been anally penetrated.”
Mr Worthington, who admitted watching porn the night Poppi died, is in hiding, and denies any wrongdoing.
The first inquest in 2014 ruled that Poppi’s death was “unexplained”.
Det Insp Amanda Sadler was found guilty of gross misconduct over her role in the investigation, but was allowed to keep her job before she retired.
Another officer was allowed to retire before facing disciplinary action.
Cumbria’s Chief Con Jerry Graham said he would have “an early discussion” with the CPS about the case.