NI police handling of Katie Simpson case ‘reflected institutional misogyny’

A catalogue of police failures in handling the suspected murder of a young woman in Northern Ireland reflected institutional misogyny, a report has found.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland missed clear warning signs that Katie Simpson’s death in August 2020 was not suicide but the result of abuse and control, an independent review said on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old showjumper had been groomed and subjected to degradation by a violent predator, Jonathan Creswell, but “not one officer thought seriously about abuse/control”, it said.

Simpson, from Tynan, County Armagh, died in hospital in Derry almost a week after an incident which police originally treated as a suicide attempt. Seven months later, in March 2021, detectives arrested Creswell on suspicion of murder. The 36-year-old took his own life in April 2024 after the first day of his trial.

The review, led by Dr Jan Melia, said Creswell had masked abusive behaviour behind a charming facade. “Katie’s lived experience was disregarded, clear warning signs were ignored, established protocols were treated as optional/discretionary, and police chose to privilege Creswell’s account,” she wrote.

Simpson was let down at every step, the report said. “Police inaction rendered her invisible in her own murder, allowing Creswell to maintain control even after death.” It said 37 people, male and female, had come forward to say they were abused by Creswell, a showjumping trainer who had been dating Simpson’s sister.

Northern Ireland’s justice minister, Naomi Long, who commissioned the report, told the Stormont assembly that police must recognise the existence and gravity of coercive control.

“Katie’s death was concealed and staged as suicide and it is abundantly clear that investigative practices and mindsets must change, she said, asking assembly members to pause for a moment in memory of Simpson.

The review faulted other agencies, including social services and the health service, but most of its 16 recommendations focused on the police, with an emphasis on training.

In a foreword to the review’s report, Simpson’s mother, Noeleen Mullan, said it had been hard to read and that police had shown her daughter a lack of care.

Kevin Winters, a solicitor representing the family, said it welcomed the report’s highlighting of misogyny. “The family feel very, very strongly about that and want to put that on the record, and it’s one of the key areas that they’ve been looking to in terms of recommendations.”

Simpson had attended a horse yard close to her home to care for and ride horses from the age of eight. The report found that Creswell, who worked at the yard, groomed her from the age of 10 and inflicted “coercive control, verbal degradation and physical abuse”.