THE case of Jonathan Creswell has always been a hugely disturbing one, and raises vital issues about the way in which women need to be protected from determined and well-organised violent offenders.
There will be a strong sense that the life of 21-year-old Katie Simpson could have been saved if Creswell had been kept under proper scrutiny, and it is entirely appropriate that an independent review into the wider circumstances has been ordered by the Stormont justice minister Naomi Long.
Creswell (36) killed himself last April while on bail during his trial for the murder of Ms Simpson outside Derry city in 2020, which astonishingly was initially treated as suicide by the PSNI.
It emerged that, although Creswell had been jailed for six months in 2010 for attacking his former partner, Abi Lyle, and investigated for sexually assaulting another young woman, he did not subsequently come under what are known as the public protection arrangements Northern Ireland (Ppani).
The Ppani structures are intended to enable different agencies to “assess and manage the risk posed by certain sexual and violent offenders”, but Creswell, after his release from prison, somehow managed to avoid these basic checks.
Ms Long said she recognised that there may have been points when Creswell could have been referred to the Ppani, and it was important to establish the full background through an independent review.
Creswell was a successful horse trainer, as well as being a show jumper who had previously represented Ireland, and there have been suspicions that he may have used his upmarket connections to prevent the authorities from properly monitoring his behaviour.
Ms Simpson, who was also a show jumper, was the sister of Creswell’s former partner, and died in hospital several days after being found suffering from serious injuries at a house in Lettershandoney.
Creswell’s false claim that he was simply the unfortunate individual who found an apparent suicide victim was believed by police at the time, and it was only when other officers, journalists and politicians challenged his account that he was eventually charged with her rape and murder.
An assistant chief constable apologised to the Simpson family last November after the Police Ombudsman highlighted the shocking flaws in the PSNI response, but a much more comprehensive examination of the sequence of events going back to Creswell’s release from prison in 2010 is now essential.
Creswell should never have been in a position to target Ms Simpson, there is no doubt that she was seriously failed by the authorities, and the entire shameful episode demonstrates why there is such anger over the appalling level of violence directed against women across our society.
