Murdered child invisible to authorities - report

A toddler who was beaten to death by her mother's new partner was failed by agencies across four counties not sharing information, a review has found.

The lifeless body of two-year-old Isabella Jonas-Wheildon was pushed around in a pushchair for days before she was discovered in a locked bathroom at a housing complex in Ipswich in June 2023.

A safeguarding practice review found that several authorities had contact with Isabella, her mother and partner, but opportunities to protect the child were missed.

"Isabella's voice or her lived experience was not seen at all during the last month of her life and not demonstrated in professionals' actions," report author Dr Russell Wate concluded.

Scott Jeff, 24, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 26 years after he was found guilty of Isabella's murder at a trial last December.

Her mother, Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, 24, is serving a 10-year prison sentence for admitting, causing or allowing the death of a child.

The review said agencies had operated in "silos" and were not focused enough on the child.

Dr Wate added that information was gathered but not shared and "no multi-agency discussions took place", in particular during the final month of Isabella's life.

He described how Isabella had become "invisible" to the authorities before her death in June 2023.

The report also described how Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff had taken the little girl from their home town of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, fleeing to the Norfolk coast.

A police officer found them sleeping rough in a tent on Great Yarmouth beach after calls from members of the public, and a "concerned citizen" had also arranged emergency accommodation.

Members of Gleason-Mitchell's family had travelled to the area to look for her and visited Great Yarmouth police station but "felt that help wasn't forthcoming", the report continued.

The BBC has learned Norfolk Police's professional standards department is now investigating both interactions.

The force said inquiries had begun "following the conclusion of the criminal trial in December last year".

There should have been "professional curiosity about the fact that the family were found camping on the beach in Great Yarmouth and had moved around", the review said.

"This should have alerted the various agencies as to concerns over the parenting of Isabella," it continued.

Despite the interactions between the family and the various agencies, there was a lack of knowledge about Jeff and the potential danger that he posed.

His "extreme coercive controlling behaviour" was not identified, Dr Wate wrote, saying discussions focused instead on who should take responsibility "from the respective three local authorities, children's services, and relevant housing services".

By 19 June 2023, Jeff and Gleason-Mitchell had travelled to Ipswich, where the council found temporary accommodation for Isabella and her mother.

Seven days later, the toddler was dead.

On 30 June, Bedfordshire Police contacted counterparts in Suffolk saying a friend of Gleason-Mitchell had "grave concerns" about the child.

The body of Isabella was found in her buggy, locked in a bathroom of a hostel, the report said, and she had endured "traumatic injuries".

Ipswich Crown Court had heard how the couple had wheeled Isabella's body around in a pushchair for four days after her death, before fleeing.

The review said Gleason-Mitchell had previously made a number of suicide attempts, had engaged in self-harming behaviour - and had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

"These vulnerabilities were not taken into account when professionals were considering (her) parenting capacity and risks to Isabella," the safeguarding report said.

Ipswich Crown Court was told that she had "stood by and did nothing" as her partner beat her daughter.

In 2020, Jeff had been assessed as "high risk" by the Community Mental Health Team in Bedfordshire.

A previous partner had told police he had subjected her to domestic abuse by controlling her movements and finances, and had assaulted, threatened and strangled her.

The information was available in agency records relating to the risks that Jeff posed to others and "if sought/shared" would have "concerned professionals greatly for him to be in a relationship with children present in the household".

In response to the report, the Central Bedfordshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnerships issued a joint statement.

The partnerships comprise councils, health services and the police, who collaborate with the shared goal of child protection.

This case, the statement said, had "touched many people across our counties, and all the Safeguarding Partnerships involved in this statement have been truly shocked".

"All of the agencies involved accept the review findings and work is already under way to implement the recommendations," it added.

"The Safeguarding Children's Partnerships will work with agencies to ensure that recommendations are implemented."

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