Three officers involved in Katie Simpson case face misconduct proceedings

By Jonathan McCambridge and David Young (PA)

The chief constable has said it is “abundantly clear” that police got things wrong in the initial investigation into the death of showjumper Katie Simpson as it emerged three officers are facing misconduct proceedings.

Mr Boutcher told his oversight body, the Policing Board, that he would be meeting soon with the family of Ms Simpson to discuss failures in the investigation.

Ms Simpson, who was from Tynan, Co Armagh, died in hospital almost a week after an incident in Gortnessy Meadows, Lettershandoney, on August 3, 2020.

Her murder was originally thought by police to have been a suicide.

It was not until the following year that Jonathan Creswell, the partner of Ms Simpson’s sister, was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Creswell, who had a past conviction for abusing another woman, initially called the emergency services having claimed to have found Katie in the aftermath of the apparent suicide bid.

The trial of Creswell, 36, over the rape and murder of Ms Simpson ended in April following his sudden death.

At Thursday’s board meeting, Mr Boutcher also issued a robust defence of senior PSNI detective John Caldwell following claims aired in a recent BBC Spotlight programme that he had initially been resistant to investigating the showjumper’s death as a potential crime.

The chief constable made clear that Mr Caldwell, who suffered life-changing injuries in a dissident republican murder bid in 2023, was not facing any misconduct proceedings.

Reflecting on the police handling of the case, Mr Boutcher said: “This was a shocking crime with a devastating impact on that family.

“The crime itself was shocking enough to endure for that family, the aftermath of the reporting and the examination of how the matter was initially dealt with, no doubt has brought even more upset and trauma and that is not lost on me.

“I am meeting the family in the near future and very much look forward to talking to them about what we did and did not do and what we got wrong.”

Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd told the board that of the officers investigated by the Police Ombudsman, the watchdog had directed disciplinary proceedings against three of them.

Mr Boutcher said he was limited about what he could say about the case as he was still waiting for the publication of the Ombudsman’s report.

But he said: “It is abundantly clear to me that we got things wrong from the beginning.

“There were a number of shortcomings in our initial investigation.

“We relied far too much on the lack of any presenting medical evidence around what had happened to Katie when she was first admitted to hospital and on the forensic post mortem that was conducted on August 11 2020.”

He added: “We were not professionally curious enough and we did not do enough initially in responding to some of the concerns that were being raised.

“Even our systems failed to identify Creswell’s previous significant and related serious offending.

“In my view this is less about individual officers’ actions and more about this organisation not getting this right.

“I can’t apologise enough to the family.”

Mr Boutcher said his concerns were not just about how the PSNI responded to the death of Ms Simpson.

He said: “It is how a man previously convicted of such a heinous and similar crime, from what we now know was a controlling and coercive individual almost on an industrial scale, how he became something of a poster boy accepted in society and no-one put their hand up and reported him.”

The senior officer added: “In advance of what happened to Katie nobody was coming to us to say that he was involved in relationships with women and doing what he was doing. There seemed to have been an acceptance within the equine community about this individual and a trust towards him that I cannot understand.”

On the Spotlight claims related to Mr Caldwell, the police chief added: “The programme was disparaging of, in my view, and damaging to his professional reputation and in turn public confidence in the police.

“Comments included in the programme were also not reflective, having read the material, of the facts.

“John is not subject to misconduct proceedings. He did not conduct the role of senior investigating officer at any stage in relation to the case.

“In my view, probably the primary reason for attention on Mr Caldwell is because he’s a known public figure for very, very sad and tragic reasons and the use of his name and perceived role is considered interesting to the public, rather than discharging any public interest.

“It’s unfortunate this issue distracts from the tragic death of Katie and the important lessons that can be properly learned and will be learned by police and other authorities.

“I’ve been assured by the Police Ombudsman as recently as yesterday that John is not subject to any misconduct proceedings.”

Responding, a BBC spokesperson said: “Our investigation raised issues of legitimate public interest.

“The Chief Constable was invited to take part.

“His statement in response to questions that we had asked, including about DCI Caldwell, was reflected by us.

“Spotlight had made clear that DCI Caldwell was not the subject of police misconduct proceedings. And we amended our reporting to include a later response from him.”

Katie Simpson and killer Jonathan Creswell (Trevor McBride)