Man who murdered partner’s two-year-old daughter before taking her body to pub and shops jailed
A man who killed his partner’s two-year-old daughter before taking her body in a buggy to the pub and shops has been jailed for life.
Warning: This article contains details readers may find distressing
Scott Jeff, 24, was found guilty last month of Isabella Wheildon’s murder as well as two counts of child cruelty after an eight-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court. He will serve a minimum of 26 years in jail.
Judge Mr Justice Neil Garnham said Jeff subjected Isabella to a “cruel campaign of violence and abuse which ended in her death” on 26 June last year.
Jeff, who was not the toddler’s father, had been in a relationship with her mother, former nursery worker Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, also 24.
Gleason-Mitchell was cleared of murder but pleaded guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child and two counts of child cruelty. She appeared to shake in the dock as she was jailed for 10 years.
Scott Jeff and Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell. Pic: Suffolk Police
The judge described her as a “weak and spineless person” who “stood back and let that abuse and violence happen to your little girl”.
He said she was “so concerned about her own comfort and pleasures, and about maintaining a relationship with this man, that you would tolerate anything, including these dreadful assaults on your daughter”.
Isabella was found in a buggy in a locked bathroom at a temporary housing unit in Ipswich in June last year.
‘Escalating brutality’
The court heard she had injuries to her head, neck, torso and limbs after suffering “escalating brutality”.
The couple took Isabella on holiday to the Norfolk coast where they first stayed in hotels, then spent four nights in a tent on the beach at Caister, and began seeking council accommodation.
The court heard Jeff would punish Isabella when she wet herself with her injuries concealed with a puffer jacket and sunglasses.
Her arms were fractured and her pelvis was “in effect shattered” when Jeff either stamped on her or “kicked her between her legs with enormous force”, resulting in her death hours later, the judge said.
Prosecutors said Isabella died from “bone marrow embolism caused by skeletal trauma”.
Traces of cocaine and cannabis were also found in the toddler’s system.
Sally Howes KC told jurors the toddler was a “healthy, contented, well-cared for little girl until Scott Jeff came into her young life” towards the end of May 2023.
From then, she suffered “escalating brutality which was callous, cruel and ultimately fatal”, at Jeff’s hands.
A post-mortem found Isabella had “extensive external traumatic injuries to the soft tissues of the body including head, neck, torso, limbs” and other areas, the barrister said, adding that her mother “did nothing and allowed this [the abuse] to happen”.
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Pushed body around in buggy
Jeff and Gleason-Mitchell, both of no fixed address but formerly from Bedfordshire, had been staying at the temporary accommodation for 11 days, when Isabella’s body was discovered on 30 June.
Prosecutors said she died on 26 June after having difficulty breathing. Jeff and Gleason-Mitchell claimed they attempted to perform CPR on her but she died at 11.37pm.
CCTV footage showed the couple went out to the shops 30 minutes later and were shown joking, apparently unaffected by Isabella’s death.
Over the next three days, they pushed the toddler’s body around in a buggy, even taking the bus into town to go shopping and going to the pub.
The judge told Gleason-Mitchell: “You felt able to go shopping with Jeff, the two of you pushing Isabella’s body around in a pushchair covered with a blanket, as if you were enjoying a family day out.”
He said the pair eventually left Isabella’s dead body in a bathroom at a hostel for the homeless and took a train to Bury St Edmunds, where Gleason-Mitchell was seen “sitting happily with a glass of wine in a pub… smiling and laughing”.
The pair were arrested in the early hours of 1 July in Bury St Edmunds, having fled Ipswich after police had found Isabella’s body.
A body has been found in the search for 23-year-old runner Jenny Hall.
She was last seen leaving her home in Barracks Farm, County Durham, in her car just after 3pm on Tuesday.
Police said there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances after a body was found in a very remote area in Teesdale on Sunday morning, five days after she went missing.
Jenny Hall went missing on Tuesday. Pic: Durham Constabulary
“We’re sorry to report that officers searching for missing woman Jenny Hall, have sadly found a body,” Durham Constabulary said in a statement.
“Officers carried out an extensive search alongside specialist partners and have been working around-the-clock to locate Jenny after she went missing on February 18.
“The body was found in a very remote area in Teesdale just after 9.30am today.
“Formal identification has yet to take place. Jenny’s family have been notified and are currently being supported by specialist officers. They have asked for privacy at this devasting time.
“It is not believed there are any suspicious circumstances and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”
A major police search was launched after Ms Hall’s disappearance.
Her car, a red Ford Focus, was found on Wednesday parked on the B6278, near remote moorland between Eggleston and Stanhope.
Mountain rescue teams, specialist drones and sniffer dogs had been combing the Hamsterley Forest and the surrounding areas, where there are a number of running trails, this week.
Digital intelligence officers also carried out extensive inquiries into Ms Hall’s mobile phone, smart watch and running apps.
A fresh amber weather warning for heavy rain has been issued by the Met Office – with much of the UK already on alert for high winds and showers.
Northern Ireland, Scotland and the UK’s west coast and the Midlands have yellow warnings for wind on Sunday – meaning the possibility of transport delays and short-term power cuts.
There are also rain warnings in place for several parts of western UK.
The new amber warning has been issued for rain in south and central Wales and is in force from 3pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday.
An amber warning means danger to life from floodwater, homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, and there is a chance some communities will be cut off.
Winds across the west of the UK will increase throughout the morning with gusts up to 70mph in exposed areas, the Met Office said.
Zoe Hutin, a meteorologist at the forecaster, said Sunday is expected to be the “worst day” before conditions improve.
“The wind warning itself for the mainland UK ends at 6pm, but we can expect to continue to see quite blustery conditions even into the evening as the mainland rain itself pushes through.”
She added: “By the time people get up on Monday, we’ll still have some of the residual rain from that front in the far south-east of the country, and quite cloudy across England as well.
“But actually elsewhere, it could be a decent start.”
The Met Office’s yellow weather warnings for much of England and Scotland came into force at 6am and are expected to run until 6pm on Sunday.
A separate yellow warning for Northern Ireland came into force at 3am and runs until 3pm.
Rain and high winds are expected across the west of the UK
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People who have noticed some slightly higher temperatures the last couple of days may be dismayed at the latest predictions.
“Through the week, those temperatures are trending back down,” Ms Hutin said.
“And so it will be getting cooler each day, but they will actually just be recovering to around average for the time of year. So it won’t be cold.
“It will just be returning back to where we would expect to be for this time of February.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said the United States “is right” about the UK and Europe needing to take more responsibility for defence and security.
The prime minister, speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Sunday, said he is clear Britain “will take a leading responsibility” in protecting the continent.
“Instability in Europe always washes up on our shores,” he said.
“And this is a generational moment. I’ve been saying for some time that we Europeans – including the United Kingdom – have to do more for our defence and security. The US is right about that.”
He added “we can’t cling to the comforts of the past” as it is “time to take responsibility for our security”.
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Donald Trump sparked an emergency meeting of European leaders this week after he said European NATO members should spend more on defence, while the US should spend less.
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Sir Keir has said he will set out a path for the UK to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence, up from the current 2.3%, but has not indicated when that will be.
It is believed he may announce the details when he visits Mr Trump in Washington DC on Thursday, bringing forward the announcement that was expected in the spring when a defence spending review is published.
The prime minister reiterated the UK will “play our role” if required in Ukraine following a peace agreement after he earlier this week said the UK would send troops to be part of a peacekeeping force.
Sir Keir will meet Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday. Pic: AP
However, his comments caused a row with Germany and Italy who said it was premature to commit to boots on the ground, although France agreed with the UK.
Sir Keir said: “As we enter a new phase in this conflict, we must now deepen our solidarity even further.”
He added: “There can be no discussion about Ukraine without Ukraine.
“And the people of Ukraine must have long-term security.”
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This week has seen US officials meet their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia to discuss Ukraine – which has been met with indignation by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as none of his team were invited.
No Europeans were invited either, sparking concern the US is pandering to Vladimir Putin.
Sir Keir has promised Mr Zelenskyy he will make the case for safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty when he meets with Mr Trump, who has called the Ukrainian president a dictator.
Mr Trump also said Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron, who will visit the White House too this week, “haven’t done anything” to end the war.
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