A father accused of sexually assaulting his baby daughter shortly before her death broke down in tears as he refused to answer questions about the morning she died.
Paul Worthington, whose 13-month-old daughter, Poppi, died suddenly in the early hours of 12 December 2012, refused to answer a total of 252 questions during a second inquest into her death. He repeatedly cited rule 22 of the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013, which allow a witness to remain silent if they are at risk of incriminating themselves.
In January last year it was revealed that a family court judge had ruled in 2014 that “on the balance of probabilities” Worthington, 49, had sexually assaulted Poppi before her death. The Crown Prosecution Service later said there was insufficient evidence to charge him. He has always maintained his innocence.
Responding to questions by Alison Hewitt, counsel to the inquest, the former supermarket worker repeatedly replied: “I refer to my previous statements under rule 22.” He became increasingly agitated as he was asked about events on the morning of Poppi’s death, shaking visibly and struggling to hold back tears.
Poppi’s mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the inquest at County Hall, Kendal, earlier this week that she had been awoken by an unusual scream from her daughter on the day she died. The court heard that she went back to sleep after hearing Worthington come downstairs to get a new nappy. She was then woken again by him shouting that Poppi was not breathing and telling her to call an ambulance.
Worthington gave his evidence screened from the public gallery, with a male and female police officer sat to his left. On Wednesday he lost a bid to be screened from journalists reporting on court proceedings. His lawyers had also previously argued unsuccessfully that he should be able to give his evidence via videolink because he had received death threats following publicity of the case.
The high court ordered a fresh inquest into Poppi’s death in 2015 after the first hearing lasted just seven minutes and recorded a verdict of unexplained death. The second inquest is expected to last up to four weeks.
The decision to hold a second inquest came after a fact-finding family court judgment, part of care proceedings involving Poppi’s siblings, found that Poppi’s “significant bleeding” within 15 minutes of the 999 call made from the family home could only be sensibly explained as the result of penetrative trauma. The judgment by Mr Justice Peter Jackson could not be made public at that time in order to avoid prejudicing any future criminal trial.
On his second day of giving evidence at the inquest, Worthington replied with his stock answer when questioned about several inconsistencies between his statements and accounts given to police and family courts, and what he told paramedics and hospital doctors.
He was asked about Poppi’s DNA being found on his penis, which he has previously said was by transfer from him holding the child then going to the lavatory at the hospital.
“Did you at any time place Poppi in a position where her face was pushed into a pillow?” Hewitt asked him. “Or put your hand or an object over her face?” Worthington reverted to his stock answer.
When asked to describe his daughter Poppi, Worthington did answer. “Lively. Bubbly. The happy one out of the siblings. Bully in her own little way,” he said.
Coroner David Roberts told Worthington that no inference would be drawn from him not answering questions put to him, but that the inquest was an opportunity for him to help explain how Poppi died.
“So I don’t want you to leave court thinking you have not had the opportunity to tell me what happened as best you can remember about the facts of those hours. It’s an opportunity. Is there anything else you would like to tell me?”
Worthington replied: “No, sir.”
In March, the Independent Police Complaints Commission criticised Cumbria police for the “unstructured and disorganised” investigation they conducted in to Poppi’s death. On Thursday, the inquest heard statements from three police officers who carried out a search on the family home more than eight hours after Poppi’s death.
Former DC Lindsey Bolton told the hearing that there had never been any “proactive” attempts to recover a laptop Worthington used to watch porn in bed on the night Poppi died. He told police that he had sold it.
DI John Carton told the inquest that the bedsheet Poppi had been laying on was not taken as evidence because it did not have visible marks on it. He also said that police did not search for Poppi’s pyjama bottoms. The inquest heard on Monday that the pyjama bottoms have never been found.
