Suffolk Police
Scott Jeff and Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell have been jailed following a seven-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court
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 show the couple smiling and joking in the aftermath of Isabella Jonas-Whieldon’s murder
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?
PA
Isabella Jonas-Wheildon was described as being a “happy” toddler before Scott Jeff entered her life
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
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