A review into the killing of Katie Simpson highlighted some of the same failings of “misogyny and complacency” as were exposed in the review into the murder of Sarah Everard.
Katie Simpson, 21, died six days after being admitted to hospital in Londonderry in 2020.
Her death was initially treated as suicide, but Jonathan Creswell, was later charged with her murder.
He took his own life after his trial began.
The Katie Simpson review, commissioned by the Department of Justice, found an urgent “cultural shift” with the PSNI is needed.
The report said the police “failure to recognise coercive control not only compromised the integrity of the investigation, but undermined Katie’s lived experience as a victim of abuse”.
It said: “By failing to interrogate Creswell’s behaviour, or challenge his account, officers dismissed Katie, denying her the recognition and protection she deserved, in life and death.
“This failure sends a damaging message to other female victims of coercive control: minimising their experience and effectively treating male violence as ‘background noise’.
“Such failures, indicative of misogyny at a structural level, reflect a policing culture that fails to understand the complex realities of women’s lives.
“Reinforcing the perception held by many victims that domestic abuse is not being taken seriously enough by police, even when it results in death.”
The report said: “This Review concludes that the PSNI investigation was a profound failure, characterised missed red flags, weak leadership, weak decision making and a culture of misogyny and complacency that marginalised Katie Simpson.
“These same characteristics were identified as part of the Angiolini Review into the Murder of Sarah Everard.”
Former Met Police officer Wayne Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life term in 2021 for the murder of Ms Everard in south London.
The Simpson Review said failings in the police investigation were “deeply embedded in the cultural framework of the PSNI”.
It said: “Officers gravitated toward the most convenient and superficially coherent explanation, as opposed to applying professional curiosity or an investigative mindset.”
It added: “Katie’s death reflects a broader, well-documented pattern of male violence against women in Northern Ireland.
“It also reflects misogyny as a risk factor that increases the likelihood of violence against women and girls, sexual offending, and abuse of power, while also driving institutional failures that silence victims, minimising warning signs, and allowing male perpetrators to dominate investigations, and police officer.
“Treating cases like this as an anomaly obscures the systemic nature of both VAWG and misogyny in our society, undermining efforts to prevent future deaths.”
The report said police officers must be trained to “recognise misogyny as a risk factor in VAWG cases”.
It added: “Katie’s case has undermined policing by consent, with interviewees reporting a decline in respect for police, a decline in trust and the feeling that there has been a cover-up designed to protect Jonathan Creswell.
“The fact that police did not listen to or act upon reports from people who knew Katie and Jonathan Creswell is difficult to fathom.
“That some reports from members of the public were destroyed is more alarming.
“Ignoring information led to missed opportunities for early intervention, further compromising the investigation.
“In Northern Ireland, where historical mistrust of the police is still prevalent, the dismissal of public information runs the risk of reinforcing community disengagement and weakening the legitimacy of police services.
“Effective policing requires not just procedural rigour but a commitment to listening to and acting on the concerns of the public.”
The report said Katie Simpson’s death had “exposed systemic failures in policing and safeguarding practice in NI”.
It said: “She was let down at every step.
“Police inaction rendered her invisible in her own murder, allowing Creswell to maintain control even after death.
“His presence in Altnagelvin (Hospital) as she lay dying, and at her wake and funeral (was) diabolical.
“From the outset, the police investigation was shaped not by professional curiosity or care, but premature assumptions and complacency.
“The dominant narrative constructed by Jonathan Creswell was accepted without challenge, while Katie’s lived experience was erased from the inquiry.
“This was not a failure of one officer or one decision.
“It was a failure of the system: a policing culture characterised by complacency, institutional misogyny and the tendency to minimise risk.”
