A Sky documentary on murdered showjumper Katie Simpson features interviews that are “potentially relevant” to an inquest into her death, a coroner’s court has heard.
Steps have been taken to obtain copies of the three-part programme, which aired earlier this month, by the legal team representing coroner Joe McCrisken.
At a pre-inquest review hearing in Belfast on Thursday, Mr McCrisken said he wanted to make clear that he had not watched the documentary and does not intend to “until I’m told by agreement of all the interested persons here that it’s okay that I should”.
“As you know, we haven’t made decisions on whether it [the inquest] should have a jury or not,” he said.
READ MORE
Ms Simpson (21), originally from Tynan, Co Armagh, died in Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry in August 2020, six days after she was attacked in the house she shared with her sister and her partner, Jonathan Creswell, in Gortnessy Meadows, Lettershandoney.
Police initially believed Mr Creswell’s claims that Ms Simpson had taken her own life, but the following year he was arrested and charged with her rape and murder.
His trial was abruptly halted in April last year after he was found dead.
During Thursday’s hearing, counsel for the coroner, Philip Henry, provided an update on the “voluminous” amount of documents examined by the coroner’s legal team over the summer.
Material forwarded by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) classed as “non-sensitive” had all been viewed and assessed.
Requests have been made to police for additional items to view, Mr Henry said.
Not all “sensitive” police material has been made available and Mr McCrisken asked for an update on when this could be provided.
A barrister for the PSNI, Mark Robinson, said police will work “expeditiously” to meet the court’s deadline.
At an earlier hearing, it emerged there were 352 police files to be examined, with between 25,000 to 29,000 pages including 44 police reports, 77 transmission files, a list of 165 exhibits, 237 statements and 53 interview files.
On Thursday, Mr Henry told the court that the coroner’s team is also working through 781 files supplied by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, which he described as a “considerable effort”, but added that they are “making progress”.
The State Pathologist has been approached “given the potential importance of pathology material” and asked to supply any relevant material to the coroner, the court heard.
An interim report by the police watchdog into the PSNI investigation of Ms Simpson’s death, published last November, found the initial police inquiry was “flawed” and recommended disciplinary action against six police officers.
Barrister Eugene McKenna, representing Ms Simpson’s next-of-kin, informed the court on Thursday that he had written to the coroner’s office in July about the Sky documentary, and received a “prompt reply” stating that the “matter will be kept under review”.
Mr McKenna said he had yet to view it himself but was aware of a “number of personalities” interviewed for the series.
“There may be material there that may be of relevance to your investigation. That is a matter that could be kept under review in the next agenda,” he added.
Mr Henry noted the documentary was now “publicly available”.
“We have already taken steps…we will obtain copies of it. It needs to be assessed for potential relevance. The contents of those interviews are likely to be potentially relevant,” he said.
Mr McCrisken adjourned the hearing until December 2nd in light of the volume of ongoing disclosure work.
