Groomed: Coercion, Control and a Cold-blooded Murder

by Nicola Tallant

The horrifying story of Jonathan Cresswell and the rape and murder of 21 year old showjumper Katie Simpson, who was initially thought to have taken her own life until Cresswell's crime was uncovered

Jonathan Cresswell was a dangerous and violent man, particularly to women. He manipulated his many girlfriends using coercive control and physically assaulted them if they didn't do as he wished.

In August 2020 he raped and murdered showjumper Katie Simpson, the sister of his partner and the aunt of his two children. He attempted to cover up the murder and pretended he had found her hanging from the landing in their shared home, and he very nearly got away with it. Only the persistence of an investigative journalist, suspicious nurses and Katie's concerned family and friends caused the PSNI to open a case almost five months after her death.

During the resulting trial Cresswell killed himself. Three other women were charged with helping him to conceal his crime, and each received a suspended sentence due their deference of being under Cresswell's control.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Current Affairs

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 9, 2025

Reviews

[Natalie M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting once I worked my way around the unnecessary aspects.

I nearly stopped reading but persevered and about a third of the way in this horrifying story gains traction and relevance. Coercive control, grooming, domestic violence and abuse are factually delivered in a case that so nearly went the way of the accused.

What a horrifying end for someone so young.

[Tango · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark, Compelling, and Unforgettable

Nicola has delivered a masterfully written story that is as gripping as it is harrowing. Sadly all of this detail is true. The narrative pulls you in immediately, with meticulous detail that brings both the setting and the characters vividly to life. Her depiction of cult manipulation, psychological control, and the tragic consequences of unchecked power is chilling, yet handled with intelligence and sensitivity.

What makes this book particularly compelling is how it intertwines personal, local experiences with larger societal failures. The story doesn’t just shock — it makes you think, reflecting on accountability, the courage of those who speak out, and the lingering effects of corruption and indifference.

The audiobook narration is flawless by Talant, allowing every tense, emotional moment to land with impact. This is a book that stays with you long after the last chapter — a dark, unforgettable story told with brilliance and precision.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was first aware of Nicola after listening to her true crime story, The witness . This was an incredible account of a boy’s astonishing bravery after being groomed by a drug dealer. I had high hopes for this one too, but I found it too drawn out. I felt the whole story could have been covered over 2 to 3 hours. 3 and a half stars

[Mona Chergui · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important story to read about. Quite a lot of detail and background context that I found tedious in the execution.

Fans of true crime I'm sure will lap it up.

[Deirdre Clancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicola Tallant’s Groomed is a stark and unflinching account of the world surrounding Jonathan Creswell, an extremely violent misogynist who was able to thrive for years within the equestrian community. His brutality toward women was widely known. He treated them as objects for his own use, exerting control through violence, intimidation, and psychological manipulation. What is most dismaying is not only Creswell’s behaviour, but the extent to which it appears to have been tolerated, perhaps even quietly enabled, by those around him.

Creswell’s cruelty extended beyond women to the horses he trained. Over time, owners noticed troubling changes in their animals and grew wary of him. The parallel is hard to ignore: just as he sought to break horses, he seemed driven to break the women in his orbit. He derived satisfaction from their degradation.

At the centre of the story is Katie Simpson, the younger sister of Creswell’s long-term partner. Groomed by Creswell from the age of 10, she was drawn into what amounted to a coercive system of sexual exploitation. Creswell surrounded himself with young women, some underage, who were expected to have sex with him on demand, hand over their earnings, and submit to constant surveillance via their phones. This was not a relationship dynamic but a regime of control.

There were warnings. Creswell had already been convicted of a brutal assault on a former girlfriend, Abigail Lyle, whom he beat almost to death after tying her to a tree. Lyle’s courage in reporting him led to his conviction. Yet even then, he gained the loyalty of Christina Simpson (then aged 15), Katie’s older sister, who stood by him throughout the trial and imprisonment, later having two children with him. In time, Katie moved into their household, along with other young women from the equestrian world. All were expected to put Creswell’s needs at the centre of their lives.

Katie’s attempt to assert some independence, tentatively exploring a relationship with a young man her own age, proved fatal. Creswell killed her in a jealous rage.

Tallant lays out these events with clarity and restraint, avoiding sensationalism. The facts speak for themselves and they are fairly damning. What lingers most, however, is not only the violence, but the silence that surrounded it. How did so many people fail to intervene? Were there no adults in the room willing to question why these women appeared so fearful and diminished? Aside from occasional concerns voiced by Creswell’s father, there appears to have been a near-total absence of safeguarding.

In a country that has yet to fully confront its own #MeToo moment, Groomed feels particularly urgent. It documents not just one man’s crimes, but the conditions that allowed them to continue unchecked, and the readiness, in some quarters, to misinterpret such cases as the 'suicide' of a troubled young woman, as initially suggested by the PSNI, despite Creswell’s long history of violence.

If there is a figure of moral clarity in this story, it is Abigail Lyle. Though she paid a heavy personal price, finding herself unable to continue working in the equestrian world in Northern Ireland after coming forward, she rebuilt her life in England and went on to achieve remarkable success, representing Ireland at the Olympics. Her courage stands in stark contrast to the complicity and silence that enabled Creswell for so long.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicola Tallant’s Groomed is a stark, unflinching account of coercive control and institutional failure, told with a journalistic clarity that makes its horrors all the more chilling. The book traces the manipulation and abuse perpetrated by Jonathan Creswell, culminating in the rape and murder of 21-year-old Katie Simpson, a crime initially dismissed as suicide by the Northern Irish police.

The author's style is deliberately straightforward, almost clinical, and that restraint becomes its own kind of indictment. She doesn’t dramatise the violence; instead, she lays out the facts with a quiet precision that forces the reader to sit with the discomfort. It’s this tonal discipline that makes the story so devastating. There’s no narrative flourish to soften the blow—just the brutal reality of a young woman groomed, isolated, and ultimately killed.

What’s most disturbing is not just the crime itself, but the systemic apathy that allowed it to happen. The PSNI’s repeated failure to act on clear warning signs—despite medical professionals raising alarms and journalists uncovering patterns—feels like a betrayal of public trust. Nicola Tallant doesn’t just tell Katie’s story; she exposes the machinery of silence and complicity that let Creswell operate unchecked.

Groomed is not an easy read, but it’s an essential one. It demands that we look beyond the sensational headlines and ask harder questions about power, protection, and accountability. The author's restraint is her strength, and in that quiet, she gives voice to the victims who were never heard.

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the true story of Jonathon Cresswell who was a dangerous and violent man, particularly to women. He manipulated his many girlfriends using coercive control and physically assaulted them if they didn't do as they were told. In August 2020 he raped and murdered showjumper Katie Simpson, the sister of his partner and aunt to his two children. He attempted to cover up the murder and pretened he found her hanging from the landing in their shared home, and he nearly got away with it. Only the persistence of an investigative journalist, suspicious nurses, and Katie's concerned family and friends caused the PSNI to open a case almost five months after her death.

As you can imagine, this was quite a harrowing book to read. Jonathon Cresswell was a despicable human. He liked to control and physically assault women. His poor children are going to grow up knowing that their father killed their aunt. They could even be bullied over it. Cresswell took the coward's way out and killed himself during the trial. This book won't be for everyone due to its contents.

Published 9th October 2025

I would like to thank #NetGalley #BonnierBooksUK and the author #NicolaTallant for my ARC of #Groomed in exchange for an honest review.

[L Powers (Bookish_Mum) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was heavy.

It tells the horrifying true story of Jonathan Cresswell and the rape and murder of Katie Simpson, a 21-year-old show jumper whose death was initially ruled a suicide. It’s an absolutely heartbreaking story about manipulation, coercive control, and the failures that let someone like Cresswell almost get away with such a horrific crime.

I’ll give the author full credit, it’s well written, well researched, and hits hard in all the right ways. You can tell a lot of work went into making sure Katie’s story was told with care. That said… it was a bit of a struggle bus at times. The amount of repetition and random background info (that felt more like a history lecture) really slowed things down for me and at one point I won’t lie, I may or may not have skimmed a few pages here or there. I found myself wishing the focus had stayed tighter on Katie and the investigation because that’s honestly where the story was strongest.

However, once you strip back the filler, though, this is a powerful and important read that shines a light on coercive control and justice for victims of abuse. It’s not an easy book to read, so please bear this in mind when picking up this read.

[Helen Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started at a slow pace with lots of confusing detail about the horse racing world and I did falter a bit and wonder if I would be able to stay focussed and follow. I was glad I persevered, however, as the crux of the story did not essentially require a knowledge and understanding of the horse world. It is the terrifying true story of the grooming (pun sort of intended) coercive control and ultimately the murder of a 21 year old horse jumper in the prime of her life by a chilling and serial offending man who somehow kept slipping under the net. The set up of the offender was almost cultish and the emerging detail is breathtakingly surreal and almost unbelievable such was the control he had over such a large number of women concurrently and the lengths they went to in order to cover up for him as directed.
The differences in attitude towards domestic violence even just a couple of decades ago in comparison to contemporary times is explored as are the gross police failings in this case. I found the middle section of the book the most compelling and interesting with the last section a bit repetitive. All in all a thought provoking and informative read, however, one I’d recommend and shocked that I hadn’t heard of this case before.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this audiobook after hearing lots on the Crime World podcast about the story of Jonathan Cresswell and Katie Simpson. Narrated by Nicola herself, Groomed tells the horror story of a young girl groomed by a man who has the world wrapped around his finger.
Jonathan Cresswell had an abusive history, but appeared to get away with his actions time and again, with a realm of woman victims of his in some capacity.
I had listened to the Crime World podcasts on this, but Groomed gives a whole new look at the backstory, who Jonathan Cresswell was and how a journalist familiar with the abuser helped the late Katie to justice.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read