A man who took the body of a girl he murdered on shopping trips has been jailed for life.
Isabella Wheildon, aged two, died after a ‘cruel campaign of violence and abuse’ by her mother’s partner Scott Jeff, 24, on June 26 last year.
Her father Thomas Wheildon described Isabella as an ‘extension of me’ who was ‘perfect in every way’ and ‘loved going to visit farms and the zoo’.
‘I miss her every single day’, he said, adding that there is ‘something wonderful about seeing life in your child’s eyes, it’s exhilarating’.
‘That light inside of me when I’m around Isabella is now gone forever.’
Mr Jeff shattered Isabella’s pelvis when he either stamped on or ‘kicked her between her legs with enormous force’, causing her death hours later, the judge said.
The girl’s body was found four days later, locked in a bathroom of a temporary housing unit in Sidegate Lane, Ipswich.
In the meantime, Mr Jeff and Isabella’s mother, 24-year-old Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, had taken Isabella’s body with them as they visited stores that ‘sold products [Jeff] wanted’, including X Box games and his favourite aftershave, the prosecutor told the court.
Judge Mr Justice Neil Garnham said: ‘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.’
Ms Gleason-Mitchell was today jailed for 10 years for causing or allowing Isabella’s death.
He described former nursery worker Ms Gleason-Mitchell as a ‘weak and spineless person’ who ‘stood back and let that abuse and violence happen to your little girl’.
The judge 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’.
Isabelle had been a ‘healthy, contented, well cared for little girl until Scott Jeff came into her young life’, prosecutor Sally Howes KC told the court.
Ms Gleason-Mitchell had reconciled with her ex-partner Mr Jeff in May 2023 after her relationship with Isabella’s dad, Thomas Wheildon, broke down.
The couple took Isabella to the Norfolk coast for holiday, initially staying in hotels before spending four night camping on the beach at Caister.
While there, they started seeking council accommodation and Mr Jeff took over potty training Isabella, who would sometimes wet herself.
But Mr Jeff ‘couldn’t tolerate such accidents and began punishing her when they occurred’, the judge said.
Her injuries, including fractured arms and the fatal pelvic injury, were concealed behind a puffer jacket and sunglasses.
Defending Mr Jeff, Christopher Paxton KC claimed the defendant’s ‘intention was to cause serious bodily harm’ rather than to kill.
But Isabella ultimately died of ‘bone marrow embolism caused by skeletal trauma’.
After leaving her body in a bathroom, Mr Jeff and Ms Gleason-Mitchell took a train to Bury St Edmunds, where Ms Gleason-Mitchell was seen ‘sitting happily with a glass of wine in a pub … smiling and laughing’.
They were arrested in the town in the early hours of July 1.
Mr Jeff was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 26 years after being found guilty of murder and two counts of child cruelty.
Defending Ms Gleason-Mitchel, Sasha Wass KC said described her client as ‘easily manipulated’ and ‘possibly not the most intelligent young lady’ who ‘failed to protect her daughter’.
Ms Gleason-Mitchel was found not guilty of murder at a trial in November. She pleaded guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child.
Isabella’s paternal grandmother Michelle Wheildon said it ‘haunts me to think what was being done to her and how terrified she must have been’.
Her maternal grandmother Ann Mitchell, mother of Gleason-Mitchell, wept and said that ‘a large piece of me and my family has been taken’.
She now visits the crematorium with Wotsits, Isabella’s favourite crisps, and Fruit Shoots ‘just to spend time with her’.
Isabella’s aunt Jade Anglum said she was the ‘shining light of all of our lives’.
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