New Inquest For 'Assaulted' Poppi Worthington

A coroner has ordered a fresh inquest into the death of Poppi Worthington, a 13-month-old girl who died in December 2012.

The baby's death had previously been declared as "unexplained" during an inquest in 2014 which had lasted for seven minutes.

She had been found with serious injuries at her home in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and was later pronounced dead in hospital.

In January, it emerged a judge had ruled that, on the balance of probabilities, Poppi was sexually assaulted by her father , Paul Worthington, just before her death.

Mr Justice Peter Jackson had said: "Shorn to its essentials, the situation is one in which a healthy child with no medical condition or illness was put to bed by her mother one evening and brought downstairs eight hours later by her father in a lifeless state and with troubling injuries.

"Careful assessment of the meticulous pathological and paediatric evidence has clearly established that the injuries were the result of trauma from outside the body."

Coroner David Llewelyn Roberts has said the new inquest would begin on 18 March, and explained there was a "substantial public interest" in the case.

A review will be held beforehand to decide the scope of the inquest.

John Woodcock, the MP for Barrow and Furness, welcomed the news, saying: "This is an important step in salvaging justice for Poppi Worthington.

"There have been too many delays in this investigation already and I hope that this inquest will now proceed as quickly as possible."

The Crown Prosecution Service had previously said it conducted "a thorough review of the evidence" but decided it was insufficient to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.

Mr Worthington will not face criminal action unless new evidence comes to light.

The 48-year-old had been arrested in August 2013 and questioned on suspicion of sexual assault. However, he was not charged with any offence and strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

Cumbria Police have been criticised for their handling of the case, and a serving officer from the force could be sacked over the investigation into her death, it is claimed.

The officer is to face a "performance meeting" which has the power of dismissal if gross incompetence is proved, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said.

Mr Justice Jackson found the force carried out no "real" investigation for nine months, as senior detectives thought a pathologist "may have jumped to conclusions" in her belief the child had been an abuse victim.

Last month, a Home Office minister described the girl's case as "deeply distressing and disturbing".