Couple planned to flee after toddler Isabella murdered in Ipswich

About a month after walking into the life of “happy” toddler Isabella Jonas-Wheildon, her murderer Scott Jeff was looking at how to bury her dead body and flee the country.

The 24-year-old had only rekindled his relationship with Isabella’s mother Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, 24, some 36 days before he murdered the two-year-old in Ipswich.

During that time Jeff beat his girlfriend’s daughter, causing her to suffer “psychological torment” and “traumatic injuries” which caused her death on 26 June 2023.

After their arrest and subsequent trial, Jeff was sentenced to a minimum of 26 years in prison for murder while Gleason-Mitchell was acquitted of murder but jailed for 10 years after admitting causing or allowing the death of a child.

Warning: This article contains descriptions of physical abuse

High Court judge Mr Justice Neil Garnham described Gleason-Mitchell as a “weak and spineless person and pathetically desperate”.

He also said Jeff’s attacks were “monstrous” and Isabella would have felt “utter terror” in his presence.

CCTV footage since released by Suffolk Police captured the couple laughing and joking just half an hour after the murder, and again in the days that followed.

After wheeling her body in a pushchair around Ipswich, the pair locked Isabella in a bathroom at the East Villas Housing Unit in the town and went on the run.

But how exactly did they plan to get away with it?

Over the course of a seven-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court, the jury heard from countless witnesses and examined endless dossiers of evidence.

This included text messages and internet searches found on the couple’s phones following their arrest during the early hours on 1 July in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

“In the trial Chelsea said Scott had asked her to buy a shovel and that effectively they were readying themselves for disposing of Isabella,” said Det Ch Ins Craig Powell.

“There was evidence in the days after Isabella’s death they were looking at ways to leave the country without passports, and other travel methods, to no doubt flee.”

Some of the destinations they considered included Scotland and Amsterdam, while they had also looked up how to get to Southend-on-Sea in Essex.

But their escape plan was thwarted after Isabella’s body was discovered under a pile of blankets in a pushchair by police officers on 30 June 2023.

Joanne Gardner, Gleason-Mitchell’s friend, had raised the alarm after being told by the mother that her daughter had been dead for about three days.

Ms Gardner said Gleason-Mitchell told her she had not contacted the authorities out of fear she would “get done” because of the bruising on Isabella.

Prior to arriving in Ipswich on 19 June, the couple had left their hometown of Biggleswade in Bedfordshire and headed to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, with Isabella.

Over the next three weeks, they stayed in the St George Hotel in the town, slept in a tent on a beach at nearby Caister-on-Sea and spent time at a caravan park.

During this period they resisted offers of help, covered Isabella’s bruised face with sunglasses, and lied to council housing officers by claiming Gleason-Mitchell was fleeing an abusive relationship.

By the time they had secured temporary housing in Ipswich, the previously “healthy and contented” toddler had been subjected to repeated beatings at the hands of Jeff.

The court heard Isabella suffered injuries consistent with “high-velocity traffic accidents” or “being kicked by a horse”.

The blonde-haired toddler, who had traces of cocaine and cannabis in her system, died from a bone marrow embolism as a consequence of skeletal trauma.

After Isabella died, with her body in a pushchair, the couple acted as if nothing had happened, travelling on buses and buying an X-Box while showing “no grief or emotion”.

Her body was “treated with disdain” and with a “bag of shopping casually placed” on top of it in the pushchair.

After later leaving Isabella’s body in the flat the couple headed to Ipswich town centre to visit shops, McDonald’s and a pub.

They then caught a train to the Corn Exchange pub, in Bury St Edmunds, where CCTV footage captured them swigging drinks and going about life as “normal”.

“As a parent I just couldn’t fathom what we could see on the CCTV cameras, in no way did they appear to be showing any grief or emotion,” added Det Ch Insp Powell.

“It was disgusting. Their actions and their reactions at that time I still struggle with today – there was very little emotion.”

Then, during the early hours of 1 July, they were both arrested, with bodycam footage showing Jeff claiming: “I never murdered her.”

But the court heard how the toddler was subjected to sustained violent attacks borne out of Jeff’s “evil temper” and frustration over her struggles with potty training.

Bone pathologist Prof Anthony Freemont told the trial he had never before seen such a severe pelvic injury in a child in his 40-year career.

Jeff would kick and stamp on the toddler and punish her with cold showers, all while her mother “stood by and did nothing”.

It was also said how the couple had previously been in a relationship in 2019, during which Gleason-Mitchell’s family said she had “changed” and drank more.

Gleason-Mitchell acknowledged she “didn’t do anything to protect” her daughter from Jeff but “thought it was just a phase he was going through”.

Gleason-Mitchell’s defence team argued she had no phone or money and was isolated by Jeff.

Rhys Lloyd, from the domestic violence support charity Leeway, told the BBC that partners controlling activity around money and daily tasks was often an indicator of abuse.

“A lot of the time perpetrators will be aiming to isolate their victims and make them really dependent on them and ultimately make it very hard for them to leave,” he added.

Det Ch Insp Powell, however, said no evidence was found to suggest Isabella’s mother was ever unable to leave Jeff and seek help.

“[Chelsea’s] role in this is still really significant,” he said.

A Local Children’s Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) has since been started, examining the actions of the relevant councils in Central Bedfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk prior to Isabella’s death.

A joint statement said: “It is important we do all we can to learn from cases such as this to reduce the risk of similar cases occurring.”

Throughout the trial, members of Isabella’s family were often present in the public gallery, including her father, Thomas Wheildon.

He said: “Isabella was the most wonderful addition to my life – she was an extension of me and I miss her every day.

“Her life was tragically cut short by you wicked, sadistic and vile people.”

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