Mum accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter breaks down in tears

A former nursery worker has broken down in tears while on trial with her boyfriend over the murder of her two-year-old daughter.

He said that the woman did not know Gleason-Mitchell’s current address but it was identified by police who arrived just after 1pm the same day.

Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff both deny Isabella’s murder between June 26-30 last year.

A post mortem found ‘extensive external traumatic injuries to the soft tissues of the body including head, neck, torso, limbs’ and other areas.

Ms Howes said Isabella sustained fractures to both wrists and a ‘complex pelvic fracture involving several bones’.

She said that her cause of death was given as ‘bone marrow embolism caused by skeletal trauma.’

The barrister said the damage caused to Isabella’s pelvis was described as ‘severe’, with ‘likely cause… either kicking or stamping or both’.

Ms Howes said Isabella was a ‘healthy, contented, well-cared for little girl’ until Scott ‘came into her life’.

Jeff denies one count of causing or allowing the death of a child and two counts of child cruelty.

Gleason-Mitchell has admitted causing or allowing the death of a child and two counts of child cruelty.

Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff started dating in May 2023 and from that point on, Isabella was ‘subjected to a regime of escalating brutality which was callous, cruel and ultimately fatal.’

She said that Isabella’s own mother ‘stood back, watched, did nothing and allowed this to happen’.

Gleason-Mitchell’s family home was in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, Ms Howes said, and Jeff’s last known address was his parents’ address in the same area.

But they left the area together, staying at hotels in Great Yarmouth, a caravan park and camping in Norfolk before they ended up in Ipswich.

Gleason-Mitchell had earlier been in contact with housing services at Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

Ms Howes said: ‘She stated she, her daughter and her partner were homeless, that they had been kicked out of their home in Bedfordshire and were escaping domestic abuse from her ex-partner She also stated Scott Jeff was Isabella’s father.’

The council determined Gleason-Mitchell was the responsibility of authorities in Bedfordshire.

She was offered a place to live with Isabella, but she turned it down because she wanted to stay with Jeff.

The couple were arrested in Bury St Edmunds in the early hours of the morning after Isabella’s death.

In a prepared statement to police, Jeff said he ‘didn’t assault or commit any unlawful act in relation to Isabella at any time’.