The trial date has been set for a man and woman accused of murdering a two-year-old girl in east Ipswich.

Before Ipswich Crown Court on Friday for a management hearing via video link was Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, 23, who has been charged with the murder of her daughter Isabella Wheildon in the Suffolk town.

Her co-defendant Scott Jeff, 24, who is also accused of Isabella's murder, did not appear in the hearing.

The defendants are both of no fixed address but formerly of Bedfordshire and a trial date was fixed for October 7 this year.

They were both charged with the murder of Isabella after the infant's body was discovered at a temporary housing unit in Sidegate Lane in Ipswich on June 30 last year.

Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff have been remanded in custody ahead of their trial, having first appeared before Suffolk Magistrates' Court in Ipswich in July last year.

An inquest into the death of Isabella has been suspended until the conclusion of the criminal trial.

Police at the scene as Isabella Wheildon was found deadPolice at the scene as Isabella Wheildon was found dead (Image: Dolly Carter, Newsquest)

Suffolk Coroners' Court had previously heard how police arrived at the housing block at about 11.45am on June 30 last year and forced their way into the flat’s locked bathroom.

They discovered Isabella, who was strapped into her pushchair, there.

She was declared dead at the scene.

Isabella, who was born in Stevenage in Hertfordshire on September 22, 2020, is thought to have died at some point between Monday, June 26 and Friday, June 30.

The court heard that Isabella’s body was identified by her father, Thomas Wheildon.

Gleason-Mitchell and Jeff were arrested in Bury St Edmunds on suspicion of murder the following day.

Extra patrols were carried out in east Ipswich in the days after the incident.