We all watch so many cop dramas on the box that we probably fancy ourselves to have some detective skills. But you surely didn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to ask a few questions about the horrific killing of the 21-year-old showjumper Katie Simpson in 2020.

Ten years earlier, Jonathan Creswell, the man who would eventually be charged with her murder, was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to assaulting his then partner, Abi Lyle, also a showjumper.

Ms Lyle gave a powerful interview to the BBC about the torture and beatings she had endured during their nine-month relationship.

Yet when Katie Simpson was found dying, in suspicious circumstances, the PSNI immediately swallowed Creswell’s claims that the young woman had tried to take her own life. And they continued to accept his version of events for months despite the concerns of hospital staff, who believed her injuries were not consistent with his story, and her disbelieving family.

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