Police recover laptop in Poppi Worthington inquiry

Police have recovered a laptop believed to have been used by Poppi Worthington’s father on the night the toddler died.

Cumbria police said officers had recovered a number of items and were examining the computer to determine whether it was relevant to the case.

In March officers arrested a 39-year-old man from Barrow-in-Furness on suspicion of assisting an offender and a drugs offence. He was later released under investigation.

In January, a senior coroner concluded that on the balance of probabilities that Poppi was sexually assaulted in her father’s bed before her death on 12 December 2012. The coroner found 13-month-old Poppi suffocated as she slept next to her father in an “unsafe sleeping environment”, and he ruled out penetration as the cause of death.

The finding was the third court judgment against Poppi’s father, Paul Worthington, who has been investigated several times but has never been charged and maintains his innocence.

Worthington, 50, told police he had viewed adult X-rated pornography on his laptop on the night Poppi died, but officers did not seize the computer at the time. It was one of a series of failures by Cumbria police, who lost vital evidence during their botched investigation.

Investigators have always believed finding the laptop could hold the key to solving the case. Nazir Afzal, the former Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) chief prosecutor who was involved in the case while in post, said in March that the laptop “could solve the mystery of what happened”. He told the Sunday Times: “Without examining it, we will never know.”

The CPS said in March that Worthington would not face any legal action and there would be no fourth review of the case without significant new evidence.

Paramedics were called to the Worthington family home in Barrow-in-Furness early in the morning of 12 December 2012. Poppi was taken to Furness general hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after 7am.

At the latest inquest in January, Worthington refused to answer 252 questions. His sister said it was on the advice of his lawyers. Poppi’s mother, who cannot be named, believes his silence “frustrated” the coronial process.

Fiona McGhie, a lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Poppi’s mother, said in March: “The latest inquest into Poppi’s death was the third time a court has found, on the balance of probabilities, that Poppi was sexually assaulted prior to death, and Poppi’s mother is extremely disappointed that this is not enough for the CPS to undertake a further review of the case.

“The past five years have been a complete nightmare for her. Not knowing what happened to Poppi on that day, and knowing that there were evidence-gathering failures by the police in the very early stages of the investigation, has made things even worse.”