How couple concealed murdered toddler in pushchair to go shopping
PA
Isabella Jonas-Wheildon will be remembered for being a “happy and contented” toddler
Child murderer Scott Jeff was in the life of two-year-old Isabella Jonas-Wheildon for just 36 days.
After starting a relationship with her mother Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell and leaving their home town in Bedfordshire, he subjected the toddler to sustained attacks that killed her.
Fleeing to the Norfolk coast and then Ipswich, with the couple both under the influence of drugs, Gleason-Mitchell turned a blind eye to Jeff’s brutality and they even walked the child’s dead body around in a pushchair to conceal the crime.
They were eventually arrested after leaving Isabella’s body in a locked bathroom and on Friday Jeff was convicted of her murder, while Gleason-Mitchell admitted charges relating to the death and child cruelty.
She said Jeff’s anger at the child spiralled when Isabella had accidents while potty training.
Smiley, blonde-haired Isabella had been described as an “engaging and happy” child with an attentive mother – so how did it go so horribly wrong?
Warning: This article features distressing details
The two-year-old, who was found under a pile of blankets with “traumatic injuries from head to toe” on 30 June 2023, officially died from a bone marrow embolism as a consequence of skeletal trauma.
Gleason-Mitchell and boyfriend Jeff, both 24 and previously of Biggleswade, were arrested the day after Isabella was discovered.
They had spent the previous night drinking at the Corn Exchange pub in Bury St Edmunds.
The harrowing details of Isabella’s final weeks were described over the course of a seven-week murder trial at Ipswich Crown Court.
A jury found Jeff guilty of murder but acquitted Gleason-Mitchell of the charge.
Jeff was also found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child, cruelty to a child in relation to cocaine, and cruelty to a child in relation to cannabis – offences Gleason-Mitchell had previously admitted.
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Gleason-Mitchell “stood by” as her boyfriend beat her daughter Isabella, the court was told
‘Happy and healthy child’
The couple had first dated in 2019 but split up, before Gleason-Mitchell met Thomas Wheildon, with whom she had Isabella.
Over the course of that relationship their daughter was said to have been “a happy, healthy, engaging and contented child” and there was “absolutely no suggestion of anything other than good parenting”.
However, after splitting from the child’s father, Gleason-Mitchell reunited with Jeff on 21 May 2023 before leaving Bedfordshire and fleeing to Great Yarmouth.
They attempted to secure council housing, falsely claiming they were on the run from Gleason-Mitchell’s former partner, who they claimed was violent.
Essex Police
Jeff was found guilty of murdering Isabella and other child cruelty offences
The pair stayed at the St George Hotel in Great Yarmouth and then in a tent on a beach in Caister-on-Sea, sleeping on towels and blankets, before spending three nights at a local caravan park.
During this time Isabella was regularly left alone and was made to repeat phrases about how her real father hurt her. These were said to be “learned lines” that she was forced to repeat.
They were offered a flat at the East Villas housing complex in Sidegate Lane, Ipswich, on 19 June – 11 days before Isabella’s body would be found and a week before she would be murdered.
‘Stood by and did nothing’
Over the course of the trial both defendants blamed each other for the violence and each claimed to have never physically harmed Isabella.
Gleason-Mitchell said she witnessed Jeff repeatedly kick and stamp on her daughter and her death ultimately “arose from” violence born out of anger over potty training.
“She was aware of what was happening to her child but stood by and did nothing and said nothing,” said Sasha Wass KC, representing Gleason-Mitchell.
In the past, however, she said Isabella’s wellbeing had been at the forefront of Gleason-Mitchell’s mind.
“Isabella’s medical records showed full engagement with health care – Isabella had attended immunisation and there was no cause for concern raised by anybody,” she added.
She laid complete blame for the injuries suffered by Isabella with Jeff.
This version of events, however, was disputed by Christopher Paxton KC, who represented Jeff and described Gleason-Mitchell as “cunning”.
Ben Parker/BBC
Isabella’s body was found in a pushchair locked in a bathroom in a flat at East Villas housing complex, in Ipswich
‘Like being kicked by a horse’
What was not contested throughout the trial, however, was the severity of the injuries inflicted on Isabella.
Bone pathologist Prof Anthony Freemont said he had never before seen such a degree of pelvic injury in a child in his 40-year career.
It was also said that the toddler had died with injuries usually seen in “high-velocity traffic accidents” or when “being kicked by a horse”.
But, even after she died, Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff opted against reporting it to the police, instead choosing to pretend she was still alive.
They wheeled her dead body around Ipswich in a pushchair while they shopped, drank and took cocaine.
Toxicology reports even revealed traces of the drug, as well as cannabis, in Isabella’s body, understood to be ingested second-hand as a result of the couple’s own drug use.
The alarm was only raised when, on 29 June, Gleason-Mitchell admitted to friend Joanne Gardner online that Isabella had been dead in her pushchair for around three days.
She said she had not contacted the authorities out of fear she would “get done” because of the bruising on her daughter’s body.
Essex Police
Gleason-Mitchell was found not guilty of the murder of her daughter Isabella
Instead, Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff decided to abandon Isabella and leave their flat on 30 June, catching a bus into the town centre, where they were captured on CCTV shopping and going to McDonald’s, before heading to a pub.
The pair then got a taxi to Ipswich train station later that afternoon before catching a train to Bury St Edmunds.
While at the Corn Exchange pub, Jeff was said to have had a text exchange with his mum, Sandy Duncan, who urged him to turn himself into the police.
He replied: “I can’t mum – it’s hard enough to lose a baby girl without them blaming us for it.”
Photos were also taken of Gleason-Mitchell while the pair were at the pub, showing her smiling while drinking.
Unbeknown to the couple, Ms Gardner had called the police with concerns about Isabella about 10 minutes prior to them leaving their flat.
The couple were then arrested in Bury St Edmunds during the early hours of the morning on 1 July.
George King/BBC
Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff stood trial at Ipswich Crown Court
After the jury returned its verdict, High Court judge Mr Justice Neil Garnham told Jeff: “I am obliged by law to impose a life sentence on you. I will have to fix a minimum term for you to serve.”
The pair will be sentenced on 13 December at Ipswich Crown Court.
The BBC has contacted Central Bedfordshire Council, Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council. The authorities are yet to confirm whether they had any contact with the couple and Isabella prior to her death.
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