- Poppi Worthington died in suspicious circumstances aged 13 months in 2012
- Her father Paul Worthington asked to give evidence via videolink at her inquest
- He claimed he was at risk as he was receiving death threats ‘on a daily basis’
Paul Worthington will give evidence at the inquest into the death of his daughter Poppi
A father alleged to have sexually assaulted his 13-month-old daughter shortly before she collapsed and died is set to give evidence in person at her inquest next week.
Lawyers for Paul Worthington, 49, had argued he should be excused attendance at the hearing in Kendal, Cumbria, because he had received death threats and his human rights would be protected by appearing in court via videolink.
However, Worthington, who has always strenuously denied any wrongdoing to his daughter Poppi, is among a list of witnesses called to appear before HM Coroner for Cumbria, David Roberts, from Monday.
The hearing at the town’s County Hall is the second inquest into the death of the Barrow-in-Furness youngster – ordered by the High Court after the first in 2014 for ‘a child aged 13 months’ lasted just seven minutes and called no evidence.
Poppi died in December 2012 after she collapsed suddenly at home.
In January 2016, family court judge Mr Justice Peter Jackson ruled that on the balance of probabilities, Worthington assaulted his daughter before her collapse.
But the Crown Prosecution Service later said there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to charge the supermarket worker.
The Crown Prosecution Service said there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to charge Poppi’s father over her harrowing death at the age of just 13 months
Flowers laid at Poppi’s grave. An Independent Police Complaints Commission report concluded that senior detectives probing Poppi’s death were ‘unstructured and disorganised’
In his fact-finding judgment, Mr Justice Jackson said Cumbria Police had conducted no ‘real’ investigation for nine months, as senior detectives thought a pathologist who examined Poppi’s body ‘may have jumped to conclusions’ that the youngster had been abused.
In March, an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) report concluded that senior detectives probing Poppi’s death were ‘unstructured and disorganised’, and highlighted the delay into a criminal investigation taking place ‘despite there being significant suspicious circumstances from the outset’.