Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A British couple have now been sentenced following the death of a two-year-old girl.
Scott Jeff, 24, and Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, 24, were spotted on CCTV smiling and laughing together as they pushed the body of the deceased toddler in a stroller in June 2023.
The pair, from Bedfordshire, had arrived at temporary housing in Ipswich days before the murder of two-year-old Isabella Jonas-Wheildon, Gleason-Mitchell’s daughter.
Ipswich Crown Court heard how Isabella suffered ‘psychological torment’ and ‘physical trauma’ at the hands of Jeff and his ‘evil temper’.
Her body was found with ‘traumatic injuries’ in a locked bathroom on June 30 last year, it is believed she died four days earlier.
The couple had previously attempted to hide the injuries that the two-year-old had sustained.
Isabella’s medical cause of death was recorded as ‘bone marrow embolism caused by skeletal trauma’.
Earlier this week, the pair were sentenced following their arrest in July 2023.
The couple have now been sentenced (Suffolk Police)
Jeff was sentenced to life with a minimum of 26 years for murder while the child’s mother was acquitted of murder but was given 10 years after admitting to causing or allowing the death of a child.
Nikki Miller, of the Crown Prosecution Service, issued a statement following the sentencing of the pair.
She said: “In her short life Isabella Wheildon faced repeated and prolonged acts of abuse.
“Scott Jeff’s violent attacks and the lack of protection provided by her mother Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell showed a total disregard for her welfare by the very people who should have been keeping her safe from harm.
Scott Jeff was sentenced to life with a minimum of 26 years (Suffolk Police)
“Using forensic and digital evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service presented to the jury the full extent of Jeff and Gleason-Mitchell’s abhorrent actions, including how they deliberately concealed Isabella’s injuries using clothing, blankets, and sunglasses – and how, when Isabella tragically died from her injuries, they covered up her body and moved it around the local area in a buggy.
“Scott Jeff and Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell have now been sentenced for their crimes and will rightly face significant terms of imprisonment.
“I truly hope that today’s outcome can provide some comfort to those who will always love and remember Isabella.”
Police have since released the harrowing CCTV footage showing the pair walking around with the stroller before they were arrested.
Chelsea Gleason-Mitchel was given 10 years after admitting causing or allowing the death of a child (Suffolk Police)
High Court judge Justice Neil Garnham condemned the couple for the severity of their crimes and their character.
He said: “There she was, a two-year-old child, totally dependent on the two of you.
“Jeff, you subjected that defenseless little girl to a brutal campaign of violence and those attacks were monstrous. She feared what was going to happen next.
“Gleason-Mitchell, you are a weak and spineless person and pathetically desperate. Isabella must have looked to you for your help but you did nothing.
“It is perfectly clear to me that her killing has had a devastating effect on her family and the lives of all of them will be permanently disfigured.
“You two are responsible for all this pain.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
