How the scandal unfolded
DECEMBER 12, 2012: Poppi Worthington dies aged 13 months after collapsing at home.
FEBRUARY 2013: Poppi is buried after coroner releases her body.
JUNE 2013: A post-mortem examination report says cause of death is ‘unascertained’.
AUGUST 2013: Poppi’s parents arrested and formally interviewed. Father Paul denies sexually assaulting her.
MARCH 2014: Fact-finding judgment delivered in private as part of family court proceedings. Publication delayed in case it prejudices any criminal trial.
OCTOBER 2014: Then South Cumbria coroner Ian Smith takes seven minutes at inquest to declare her death as ‘unexplained’, relying on factfinding judgment. JANUARY 2015: Senior
coroner for Cumbria David Roberts confirms he will ask for fresh inquest as earlier hearing was insufficient and therefore unlawful.
MARCH 2015: Cumbria Police announces no charges will be brought over death.
APRIL 2015: Paul Worthington granted review of the March 2014 medical evidence, delaying release of fact-finding judgment. JULY 2015: High Court judges order fresh inquest.
NOVEMBER 2015: Revealed that police did not conduct any ‘real’ investigation into Poppi’s death for nine months despite pathologist’s concerns her injuries were caused by ‘penetrative sexual assault’.
JANUARY 19, 2016: Judge announces that – on balance of probabilities – Mr Worthington had sexually assaulted Poppi shortly before her death.
JUNE 2016: Serious Case Review finds Poppi’s mother had ‘difficult and traumatic childhood’ in family ‘with intergenerational experiences of neglect and abuse’.
JULY 2016: CPS says there is ‘insufficient evidence’ to charge Paul Worthington with any offence.
MARCH 3, 2017: Independent Police Complaints Commission publishes 2015 findings into the initial police investigation. It finds detectives were ‘unstructured and disorganised’ and there had been enough grounds to make arrest on day of Poppi’s death. NOVEMBER 27, 2017: Second inquest starts.
JANUARY 15, 2018: Coroner David Roberts, concludes Poppi was sexually abused before she died from asphyxia, caused by ‘an unsafe sleeping environment’.