A respected journalist who was among the first to raise concerns about the suspected murder of Katie Simpson has repeated calls for a public inquiry to be held.
Award-winning journalist Tanya Fowles raised concerns about the injuries suffered by the showjumper a day after she was admitted to hospital in August 2020.
Ms Fowles, who has recently made a fresh complaint to the Police Ombudsman, called for public inquiry as the Police Ombudsman released a 60-page report into Ms Simpson’s death.
Her death was wrongly treated by police as a suicide before a murder investigation was later launched.
The man accused of killing her, Jonathan Creswell, the partner of Ms Simpson’s sister, took his own life on the second day of his trial in April.
The ombudsman has now confirmed that from an early phase of their investigation police knew Creswell had been convicted for assaulting a former partner in 2009.
It is now known that from after Ms Simpson was admitted to Altnagelvin Hospital Ms Fowles, a well-known court reporter, raised concerns with police over Creswell’s past record.
Ms Fowles, thought to be identified as Woman C in the Police Ombudsman’s report, became aware of the injuries suffered by Ms Simpson shortly after she was admitted to hospital through a close friend of the showjumper and immediately became suspicious.
Such was her concern she contacted several police officers over a number of days.
“The PSNI failed Katie and refused to take my information seriously,” she said.
She said that information she provided to the PSNI later “vanished”.
“Likewise, Katie’s closest friend voiced her concerns to PSNI around that same time as she simply refused to believe Katie would take her own life,” she said.
“It wasn’t enough.
“Then when I tried to complain to PONI (Police Ombudsman) I was brushed aside as I wasn’t a family member.
“That wasn’t even a proper ground for refusal.”
Ms Fowles said she eventually made a complaint in May 2021 to the Police Ombudsman.
“Since then, well over three years ago, I have been told absolve nothing, with exception of learning through a press enquiry that the investigation file - named Operation Gambart - had been sent to PSNI Professional Standards Department in May 2023,” she said.
Ms Fowles believes there needs to be a public inquiry.
“This whole matter needs a public inquiry to get to the facts, not the fictions, encompassing every agency which had any role in this shocking case,” she said.
“It’s been a disgrace on every level from day one and those in authority must be held accountable.”
Ms Fowles said that in 2021 she told Police Ombudsman official that the case was “too vast and wide-reaching and only a public inquiry would suffice”.
“There are multiple agencies and authorities who must be held accountable and while justice for Katie has been denied at least we can get the truth,” she said.