Revealed: Killer guilty of beating girl 'also controlled his ex'

by · Mail Online

Child murderer Scott Jeff, who has been found guilty of killing two-year-old Isabella Wheildon, had also been accused of controlling and coercive behaviour by a former girlfriend, the Daily Mail can reveal.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed that the 24-year-old had restricted her access to social media and kept her away from her family.

The allegation emerged during legal argument in the absence of the jury so could not be reported until the end of the trial.

On Friday, Jeff was found guilty of murder while Isabella's mother, Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, 24, was cleared. Both had denied the charge, but Gleason-Mitchell had admitted causing or allowing the death of a child.

Details also emerged about Jeff's time on remand in prison.

It was claimed that he had got in to fights, with Gleason-Mitchell's barrister telling Ipswich Crown Court that he had resorted to violence 'in a frenzy of anger'.

A recorded phone conversation in prison had shown him saying that he had 'lost it' with a cell-mate and 'just f***** snapped' when 'everything went to s***'.

Gleason-Mitchell's defence team also wanted to bring up evidence of him seeking cocaine while in prison on remand. 

Scott Jeff, who has been found guilty of the murder of two-year-old Isabella Wheildon, had also been accused of controlling and coercive behaviour by a former girlfriend
Details also emerged about Jeff's time on remand in prison. It was claimed that he had got in to fights and had resorted to violence 'in a frenzy of anger'
Claims made in the absence of a jury also included that Jeff had exerted control against Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, pictured with her daughter, Isabella

They claimed the information about his temper and drug use was relevant to the case, and that Jeff had exerted a similar level of control against Gleason-Mitchell.

But judge Mr Justice Garnham ruled that the information could not be put to the jury, partly due to inconsistencies in her evidence.

He said, for instance, that she had continued to have access to the internet through an Amazon tablet while with Jeff, even when her phone was broken.

The judge also ruled that evidence of Jeff losing his temper did not suggest who was responsible for Isabella's injuries.

It can also today be revealed how Gleason-Mitchell had been suspended from her job as a nursery nurse for pushing a child.

She had been working at Busy Bees nursery in Sandy, Bedfordshire for five months when the alleged incident took place in July 2022.

She was immediately suspended and the incident referred to the local authority. It ordered an internal investigation which found no evidence to support the claim and Gleason-Mitchell was allowed to resume work.

'I was told that Chelsea was suspended because a child went home and told her mother that Chelsea had hit her,' a former colleague told this newspaper.

'I heard that Chelsea's reasoning for that was that she was not hitting her but that when they put them to bed they would tap their bottoms.'

A jury convicted Scott Jeff, 24, of the murder of two-year-old Isabella Wheildon after deliberating for just over seven hours
It can also be revealed that Gleason-Mitchell had been suspended from her job at Busy Bees nursery in Sandy, Bedfordshire for allegedly pushing a child in July 2022
Police mugshots of Gleason-Mitchell and Scott Jeff as both await sentence for their crimes

A source from the nursery insisted that the allegation had not involved hitting or smacking a child – but pushing one. 

She added that the original investigation had been reviewed following Gleason-Mitchell's arrest and that no other complaints had been received and that there were no concerns about her work.

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Gleason-Mitchell's two-year-old daughter Isabella attended the same nursery in Sandy along with her mother, under an arrangement whereby staff are offered reduced fees.

She quit her job in April of last year, having split up with the father of her child, Thomas Wheildon. 

Within weeks she had begun a relationship with Scott Jeff and the couple left Bedfordshire for East Anglia, where Isabella was subjected to weeks of abuse that led to her death.

Ipswich Crown Court heard Gleason-Mitchell described as a 'vulnerable' individual with 'intellectual struggles'.

The colleague, who worked with her at a previous nursery, described Gleason-Mitchell as 'odd'.

'The DBS checks are run but they're crying out for people to work with children,' she said. 

Isabella, pictured here on a swing with her mother Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, was found dead at a homeless unit in Ipswich, Suffolk
Within weeks of beginning a relationship Jeff and Gleason-Mitchell left Bedfordshire for East Anglia, where Isabella was subjected to weeks of abuse that led to her death

'She was awkward and giggled over anything. She had a nervous disposition about her. I found her uncomfortable to be around so I made a point of not being friendly with her. 

'She made my skin crawl and she made me feel on edge. I was annoyed by her. There was constant giggling.'

And she added: 'Chelsea would not do much. She would just sit with a baby in her lap and have a cuddle all day. We would have to pull her up on that.

'The job is not just about cuddles. It's about safeguarding and cleaning and preparing meals. 

'I never saw her being rough with any of the children. All I can remember is her sitting down with a baby in her lap.'