Mum's sentence over toddler death to remain

A mother who wheeled her daughter's body around in a pram will still face 10 years in prison after the Court of Appeal dismissed an application to extend her sentence.

Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, 24, was jailed for 10 years in December after pleading guilty to child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of her two-year-old daughter, Isabella Jonas-Wheildon, at the hands of her partner, Scott Jeff.

The pair, who were both from Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, wheeled her body around in a pushchair for days before leaving her in a bathroom at a Suffolk hostel.

Gleason-Mitchell appeared via video link from HMP Peterborough at The Royal Courts of Justice where she heard her sentence would remain.

Following the hearing, the family of Isabella's father said in a statement: "We are angry that the justice system towards her sentence has failed Isabella.

"We feel like everything has failed Isabella, all the way through."

Gleason-Mitchell's sentencing was looked at after solicitor general Lucy Rigby agreed to refer the case to the Court of Appeal following a request from shadow safeguarding minister Alicia Kearns.

Jeff, 24, was also convicted of Isabella's murder and handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 26 years.

Outlining the case for the appeal, Paul Jarvis believed the judge in Gleason-Mitchell's sentencing, Mr Justice Garnham, should have handed her a longer sentence before reducing it by roughly 28%.

He argued to the court that the judge's application of sentencing guidelines were "flawed" and "fell into error" arriving at the final sentence.

"The learned judge in our submission had not taken into account, in arriving at the starting point of 14 years, the suffering of Isabella," he told the court.

Mr Justice Garnham also took into consideration mitigating circumstances for Gleason-Mitchell, including that she had mental health issues and she had previously been a good mother.

However, Mr Jarvis argued she "stopped becoming a good mother" when embarking on her relationship with Jeff.

Sasha Wass KC, arguing against the appeal, said the judge "followed the guidelines to a tee" and that for such an appeal to succeed, it must be proven that the judge was "unduly lenient".

"He heard the evidence, he heard Miss Gleason-Mitchell give evidence herself and be cross examined robustly over the course of four days," she told the court.

The appeal was heard by Lord Justice Edis, Mrs Justice Stacey and His Honour Judge Lockhart.

"We grant leave in this case because we consider that some judges may properly have balanced aggravating and mitigating factors differently or applied them to higher starting point," Judge Lockhart said.

"That is not the same thing as to say the judge's approach was unduly lenient."

He added Mr Justice Garnham was "in the best position to assess" Gleason-Mitchell and her culpability, and he had followed the guidelines "as the law requires him to do".

"He was acutely aware of the appalling circumstance of the very grave case with which he had to deal," he added.

"In those circumstances, we consider it is not possible to say his sentence, to count from 14 years, was unduly lenient. There is no criticism made of that discount.

"Although we give leave we cannot quash the judge's sentence and replace it with a sentence of our own and we therefore dismiss application."

Any member of the public can ask the Attorney General's office to review a sentence if they believe it was too lenient, under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.

Should the Attorney General and Solicitor General agree, they can ask the Court of Appeal for a review.

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