How mother of murdered two-year-old ignored boyfriend's abuse

The final month of Isabella Wheildon's existence was a living hell.

Videos of the toddler taken at the end of May last year show the adorable, blonde-haired girl playing on the swings, running on a beach and breaking out in uncontrollable giggles.

She's young, innocent, and full of fun.

But in the four weeks that followed, that life would be systematically beaten out of her.

Again it was captured on camera.

Increasingly bruised and battered, the two-year-old would be recorded on CCTV as she was wheeled around in a buggy.

Despite the summer weather she was wearing a winter coat, the hood pulled tight to her head to hide her injuries.

By mid-June she had two black eyes and was made to wear sunglasses wherever she went.

By the end of the month she was dead.

A post mortem found that she had suffered injuries to her head, neck, torso, limbs and back and had traces of crack cocaine in her blood. She also had fractures to both her wrists, and a complex pelvic break probably caused by 'kicking or stamping'. An embolism caused by bone marrow from her fractures leaking into her blood stream killed her. But as the final images of this little girl would show, even in death she was afforded no dignity.

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Her corpse was placed back in the buggy and wheeled around as those responsible for ending her life went about their daily lives, piling shopping bags on top of her and going to the pub.

Of course, no-one deserves the treatment to which Isabella was subjected.

But what makes it almost unbearable is the fact that it happened in the full sight and knowledge of her mother, Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell.

Incredibly, the 24-year-old was a nursery nurse who, initially at least, was said to have been a good mum to Isabella.

But all that changed in an instant when she hooked up with old flame Scott Jeff, a drug-taking thug with a track-record of abusive relationships and the words Pure Hell tattooed across his knuckles.

Knowing that her family did not approve of him, the pair left their homes in Bedfordshire and took Isabella with them to East Anglia.

There, claiming they were fleeing domestic abuse, they moved between hotels and caravan parks, even camping on the beach. Undoubtedly, there were missed opportunities for intervention.

Well-meaning strangers raised their concerns and at one stage they were even spoken to by a police officer before accepting a room in a council-run temporary housing unit in Ipswich.

But there would be no respite for Isabella. Jeff kicked and punched her repeatedly, force-fed her until she was sick and punished her for wetting herself with cold showers. Over time poor Isabella's screams gave way to silence.

Gleason-Mitchell told police: 'It's like all of her pain went away and stopped, like she didn't know how to cry and didn't know what pain was any more.'

Even when she died her mother did not seek help. Had a friend not tipped off police who knows what would have happened next – the pair had discussed buying a shovel and burying Isabella's body in a forest.

Gleason-Mitchell, who was portrayed as vulnerable and easily bullied, claimed Jeff had been responsible for the abuse. But so desperate was she to build a life with him, she was prepared to turn a blind eye to what he was doing, sacrificing her daughter's life.

He in turn claimed to have seen his girlfriend hitting the child with a slipper.

Yesterday, following a six-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court, a jury unanimously convicted Jeff of murder and two counts of child cruelty. Gleason-Mitchell was cleared of murder, but had previously admitted causing or allowing the death of a child and two offences of cruelty to a child.

Both were remanded in custody until a hearing next month, with the judge telling Jeff that he would be sentenced to life in prison.

While precisely what happened to Isabella may never be known, undoubtedly the catalyst for the abuse was her mother's short-lived relationship with Jeff.

Until that time, those who know Gleason-Mitchell say she and the child's father, Thomas Wheildon, had provided Isabella with a caring upbringing.

'They were brilliant parents – they loved her to bits,' one friend said.

That being said, Gleason-Mitchell's life had not been without its own challenges.

Childhood friend Bethany Birkenshaw told how the pair met in learning support at school, where Gleason-Mitchell had been bullied.

She remembered asking her friend 'whether she was shaken as a baby'.

'I know it's awful but she isn't 'all there',' she said. 'She struggles with spelling and definitely has intellectual challenges, although she never told me she had been diagnosed with anything.'

Having left school, Gleason-Mitchell got a childcare apprenticeship at a nursery in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire before starting work at Busy Bees nursery in Sandy in February 2022.

The Daily Mail can reveal that five months later she was suspended from her job after it was alleged she had pushed a child.

The incident was referred to the local authority which ordered an internal investigation that found no evidence to support the claim – meaning Gleason-Mitchell could 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 source from the nursery insisted that the unproven 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.

But any stability in her life quickly unravelled when she split from Isabella's father in April 2023.

Within weeks she had begun a relationship with Jeff, whom she had previously dated in 2019. The pair had met when he was working as a barman at Wetherspoons.

'There was loads of drugs,' Gleason-Mitchell said of their previous time together. 'I was doing cannabis, cocaine and pills.'

When they got back together last year and Jeff saw Isabella he instantly – and wrongly - decided that he must be her father. This was partly because they had slept together shortly before she was conceived but also because he thought she looked like him.

Quite what Gleason-Mitchell saw in Jeff is unclear, but she revelled in his attention, saying she felt 'wanted' and 'loved' and that he had 'connected straight away' with Isabella.

In legal argument during the trial it emerged that a previous girlfriend of Jeff had accused him of controlling and coercive behaviour by restricting her access to social media and keeping her away from her family.

Gleason-Mitchell also kept the burgeoning relationship a secret from her mother - knowing she thought Jeff was a bad influence.

And so it was that on May 24, she quit her nursery job in Bedfordshire. A week later, on June 1, she told her mum she was off to Great Yarmouth for the weekend with friends.

That evening she admitted she had lied, sending her mother a message about Jeff that read: 'I promise he's a changed person. He's not like he used to be.' She added that Jeff wanted to 'love us for who we are'.

The couple first stayed at the Nelson Hotel in Great Yarmouth, before deciding they should try and move to the area full-time, partly because 'Isabella liked being beside the seaside'.

Gleason-Mitchell contacted Great Yarmouth Borough Council to try and get re-housed, lying about how she was fleeing domestic violence.

The council told her she was the responsibility of the Bedfordshire authorities.

Four nights followed in a rented caravan in nearby Caister-on-Sea where they were captured on CCTV walking around without Isabella.

Gleason-Mitchell claimed she was concerned about leaving her daughter alone, but Jeff told her she would be 'fine'.

While there, Jeff took over Isabella's care, including nappy changes and feeding.

Next stop, on June 9, was the St George Hotel in Great Yarmouth, which was used by homeless families.

There the pair were seen outside smoking cannabis, leaving Isabella in the room.

Gleason-Mitchell claimed that it was here the abuse began as Jeff tried to potty train the two-year-old, punishing her for 'accidents'.

'He would smack her on the hand,' she said. 'It started with the left and then went on the right. He was smacking with force. I said that is not the way she should get punished.'

The court heard that if Isabella asked for 'mummy', Jeff would insist she go to him to be comforted.

At one point a 14-year-old boy staying in the hotel with his mother went into the couple's room to roll a joint and saw Jeff slapping the girl's face.

Another female resident heard 'gurgling screams' coming from their room and Isabella crying constantly. She knocked on the door at 2am and when it opened saw Scott hitting the walls with a towel. Asked if he was alright, he replied: 'No, there are things that go bump in the night.'

The couple left the hotel on June 12 and started camping in a tent on the beach.

Concerned locals contacted police who carried out a welfare check on Gleason-Mitchell.

The officer told her that she had to accept any accommodation offered to her or Isabella would have to be taken into care by police.

But four days later the couple moved to a holiday park in Belton, Norfolk. While there she gave Jeff a Father's Day card with the message 'Best Dad ever' and three cans of Stella Artois lager as a present.

On June 19 they caught a train to Ipswich after being told that they had got a place at a council-run temporary accommodation unit.

Voice notes made by Jeff on his phone showed him saying he was 'f***ing fuming' that Isabella kept wetting herself.

A video clip on Gleason-Mitchells' mobile in the early hours of June 22 showed Isabella 'lying motionless in her cot with two distinct black eyes'.

The following day he messaged a friend saying: 'I'm waiting for my dad to drop me some sniff'.

Jeff told jurors that it was a reference to cocaine, saying that he had used it in the past but did not use it in Isabella's presence until 'after she passed away'.

At 3.15pm on June 26 the couple were caught on CCTV returning to the unit. Footage showed Isabella's legs and feet moving in her pushchair. Police believe it was the last image of the toddler alive and that she would be dead within hours.

That evening Jeff searched the internet, asking: 'What happens when my child is breathing, but not responding?

Gleason-Mitchell told the court that she had cooked spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and that Jeff then hit Isabella with one of his trainers when she didn't settle at bedtime.

While watching TV she noticed her daughter having difficulty breathing.

'Isabella was using her mouth to say something was wrong or hurting but she couldn't get the words out,' she said.

Both then claimed to have vainly performed CPR on Isabella.

But still the couple did not call for help. Instead, they simply carried on as if nothing had happened, on each of the three following days taking the body out in the buggy with them. There was a trip to a service station to buy lemonade and a trip to the pub. CCTV showed Jeff putting Isabella's body in her chair with a smiling Gleason-Mitchell by his side

They even took her into Ipswich town centre on a bus, buying X-Box equipment and chargers. A plastic bag with their purchases was placed on top of Isabella.

On June 30th they headed out again, this time leaving Isabella behind.

Unknown to them, police had been tipped off by a friend of Gleason-Mitchell, Jo Gardiner, who the young mum had messaged telling her that Isabella had 'died in her sleep' three days earlier.

Ms Gardiner told her to go to the police but Gleason-Mitchell refused, saying Isabella was 'covered in bruises' and had black eyes and they would get into trouble.

Instead, she said that Jeff planned to bury her and 'hope for the best that nobody would find her'.

When police visited the unit they were greeted by a 'very strong smell' coming from the bathroom. There, in the buggy, covered by blankets was Isabella. Her face was severely bruised and she was cold to the touch.

In the early hours of the following morning Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff were arrested. They had caught a train to Bury St Edmunds where they spent six hours in a JD Wetherspoon pub.

While there Jeff put an image of himself and Isabella with 'R.I.P baby' and a heart emoji written on it as the screensaver on his phone.

He told officers: 'I never murdered her. I was going to hand myself in tomorrow. Do we just go straight to jail just because she's dead?'

Giving evidence he claimed the child's fatal injuries had been caused by Gleason-Mitchell while he was out of their temporary accommodation in Ipswich for 15 minutes.

He said that he would not have harmed Isabella 'in a million years'.

A blatant lie. Because, in reality, all it took was four short weeks. Not for Jeff to just harm an innocent child. But to torture and then kill her.