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Poppi Worthington inquest: Toddler suffered injuries caused by rape, coroner rules Poppi Worthington inquest: Toddler suffered injuries caused by sexual assault, coroner rules
(35 minutes later)
Toddler Poppi Worthington suffered injuries caused by anal penetration, David Roberts, senior coroner for Cumbria has ruled at the conclusion of her inquest at Kendal Coroner's Court.  A toddler suffered injuries caused by serious sexual assault at her family home before her death, a coroner has ruled.
  Poppi Worthington died in 2012, with an original seven-minute inquest that declared her death unexplained later being quashed by the High Court.
  The second inquest, held in Kendal, heard that the 13-month-old woke up screaming at her family home in Barrow-in-Furness on 12 December.
More follows… Her father, Paul Worthington, said he put her in his bed and went to get a fresh nappy, but five or 10 minutes later he reached over to find she was limp or floppy. 
  Mr Worthington rushed downstairs and Poppi’s mother, sleeping downstairs, called an ambulance.
Paramedics took her to Furness General Hospital at 6.11am but she never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead shortly after 7am.
Medics noted the child was bleeding anally and in January 2016, a family court judge presiding over proceedings involving Poppi's siblings said that in the balance of probability Mr Worthington sexually assaulted his daughter by anal penetration shortly before her death.
The father appeared before the inquest to give evidence but used a rule meaning that inquest witnesses are not obliged to answer incriminating questions 252 times.
David Roberts, HM senior coroner for Cumbria, said Mr Worthington's account did not “stand up to scrutiny”.
He recorded a narrative verdict after telling the inquest that the option of “unlawful killing” was not available to him because of a lack of evidence indicating murder of manslaughter.
Mr Roberts said that although Poppi was penetrated before her death, it was not the cause and she did not die immediately afterwards.
The toddler, who was suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection at the time, died from asphyxia.
Mr Roberts told the inquest her ability to breathe was compromised by an “unsafe sleeping environment” after her father took her from her cot and placed her next to him in his double bed.
“The deceased died as a result of her ability to breathe being compromised by an unsafe sleeping environment,” he concluded.
Mr Worthington has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any offence as the Crown Prosecution Service say there is insufficient evidence.
The cause of Poppi's cause of death remains ”unascertained“, medical experts told the inquest.
The post-mortem examination findings of pathologist Dr Alison Armour, who said that that Poppi had been penetrated and had tears in her bottom, were disputed.
Cumbria Police's investigation into the death saw vital evidence lost and witnesses interviewed for months, meaning that there is no forensic way of telling what happened to the child.
In an investigation that concluded last year, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said senior detectives were ”unstructured and disorganised“, highlighting the lengthy delay into a criminal investigation taking place ”despite there being significant suspicious circumstances from the outset'“.
Lawyers for Poppi's mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and Mr Worthington both entered submissions saying there was not enough evidence for the coroner to conclude the toddler was unlawfully killed.
But Gillian Irving QC, representing Poppi's mother, argued there was ”clear evidence“ that she was subject to a ”penetrative anal assault“.
Claiming the evidence of Dr Armour was ”tainted“ and ”unsafe“, Mr Worthington’s representative Leslie Thomas QC said an open verdict was appropriate as there was not enough evidence to reach any other conclusion.
Additional reporting by PA