How PSNI botched Katie Simpson murder investigation

About this episode

The episode discusses the failures of the PSNI in the investigation of Katie Simpson's murder and the implications of institutional misogyny within the police force.

When 21-year-old Katie Simpson died in August 2020 after an event in her home, why did the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) accept the version of events offered by Jonathan Creswell, the man she shared a house with? He said she had taken her own life. Why did they not look into his past as a convicted domestic abuser, or her history of presenting at hospitals with injuries and why did they so readily believe him? Nearly a year after her death he was charged with her murder and on the second day of the trial in Belfast, he killed himself. In doing so he not only denied his victim justice, he stopped the details of her death and the investigation into it being made public in a court. A 200-page report on how her murder was handled has now been published and it reveals a shocking litany of failures by police that are not simply down to poor investigation techniques but something far more ingrained and sinister: “institutional misogyny”. It also reveals that many more victims have come forward with allegations of abuse against Creswell who was active in equestrian circles in Northern Ireland. Seanín Graham, Northern correspondent of The Irish Times, explains how the report…

People in this episode

Host: Bernice Harrison

Guest: Seanín Graham

Topics covered

• murder investigation
• police failures
• domestic abuse
• institutional misogyny
• justice system
• Northern Ireland

Keywords

• Katie Simpson
• Jonathan Creswell
• PSNI
• murder investigation
• domestic abuse
• institutional misogyny
• Northern Ireland
• justice
• police failures

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Police Service of Northern Ireland, The Irish Times

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