A family court judge previously ruled the
13-month-old's father, Paul Worthington, probably sexually assaulted Poppi
before her sudden death in Barrow-in-Furness in December 2012.
Mr Worthington denies any wrongdoing and the
Crown Prosecution Service has said there is "insufficient evidence"
to charge him.
The 2014 civil report found senior detectives
investigating Poppi's death were "unstructured and disorganised" and
that a pathologist was thought to have "jumped to conclusions" after
they suggested an unlawful act may have taken place.
Those findings were passed to the Independent
Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which has finally published its
conclusions today - two years after reaching them.
According to sky news, The IPCC said police did
not adequately investigate whether Poppi had been abused, despite concerns
raised by a hospital doctor, a post-mortem examination and during a
conversation between Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour and then-lead
officer Detective Inspector Amanda Sadler.
Tim Kimber, lead investigator for the IPCC, said
the post-mortem was pivotal to the inquiry as Ms Sadler considered the opinion
of Dr Armour and a second doctor's suggestion that Poppi's injuries could be
consistent with constipation.
The investigation was then passed to Detective Superintendent
Mike Forrester, who appeared to disregard Dr Armour's opinion, the report said.
It adds: "The IPCC investigator considers
that there is substantial evidence upon which it could be concluded that these
two lines of inquiry were not pursued equally and appropriately and that there
was more focus on establishing a natural cause of death.
"Overall the IPCC investigator considers
that there is substantial evidence available to support the contention that the
reason this case has still not reached a resolution more than two years on from
the death of Poppi is because of the unstructured and disorganised
The IPCC concluded there was enough evidence to
justify an arrest either on the day of Poppi's death, or shortly after the post-mortem.
Mr Kimber said there were concerns Poppi's father
was the last person looking after her before her death.
He said: "Not only were there suspicious
circumstances, there was also a suspect on day one.
"Despite the level of suspicion, and there
being a suspect, a crime was not recorded until 28 August 2013, which is the
day the parents were arrested."
No criminal
charges have been brought following Poppi's death and a fresh inquest will take
place in Kendal in May.
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