Isabella Wheildon murder: Mum Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, jailed after her toddler's death, could have sentence increased
A mum who wheeled her daughter’s body around in a pram after her murder could have her sentence increased.
Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, 24, was jailed for 10 years in December after pleading guilty to allowing the death of a child – a homicide offence – and two offences of cruelty to a child.
Her partner, Scott Jeff, was jailed for life for murdering two-year-old Isabella Wheildon, while Gleason-Mitchell “'stood close by and did nothing”. The pair then wheeled Isabella’s body around in a pushchair before fleeing and leaving her body in a bathroom at their temporary accommodation in Ipswich.
At her sentencing, the judge described Gleason-Mitchell, of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, as “weak and spineless”.
But now solicitor general Lucy Rigby has agreed to refer her case to the Court of Appeal, after a request from shadow safeguarding minister Alicia Kearns.
Responding to Ms Kearns request, Ms Rigby said there were “sufficient grounds to consider the sentence to be unduly lenient.”
She wrote: “This was a horrific crime, and I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the devastating loss of Isabella Wheildon. I appreciate there is nothing I could possibly say that could alleviate the grief of her father and those who loved her. No sentence can undo the appalling actions of the offenders, or could ever truly reflect the tragic death of a child.”
And she added: “The matter will now be the subject of a public hearing, and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
Ms Kearns posted on X, formerly Twitter, “I’m grateful to the solicitor general for agreeing to refer the sentence of Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell to the Court of Appeal after my application for review as unduly lenient. The depravity in this case left our country appalled. I hope better justice will be served.”
In December she had posted: “Yet another case of heinous child abuse and murder. The murder of a child should be a whole life order. Scott Jeff should never see the light of day, nor Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell.”
But while she had also asked for a review of Scott Jeff’s sentencing, the solicitor general said it did not meet the threshold and would not be viewed as unduly lenient. Jeff, also 24, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 26 years.