Katie took so many secrets to her grave

Journalist's quest for justice for pal's 'murder'

- BY SANJEETA BAINS

WHEN Tanya Fowles heard that a young woman she knew had apparently taken her own life, she had a strong feeling that it might have been murder.

Showjumper Katie Simpson, 21, had been found by trainer Jonathan Creswell, her sister's partner.

But Tanya, a journalist, recognised his name - 10 years before she was sitting in crown court as Creswell, then a 22-year-old showjumper, was jailed for six months after admitting assaulting his ex-girlfriend Abigail Lyle. He had choked Abigail until she passed out, and once threatened to throw her into a bath of bleach.

Tanya, who knew Katie as a child, says: "It was such a horrific case that I remembered him clearly."

Chilled, Tanya called police and was told an investigating officer would ring back but they never did.