Mum and boyfriend on trial for intercourse abuse and homicide of woman, 2, ‘discovered with bloody nappy’
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Isabelle Welsh, two, collapsed at her home in Thornaby, Teesside, allegedly suffering a ‘massive head injury’. Her mum Alexandra Walker and boyfriend Harrison Simpson deny all charges
Isabelle’s life was cut tragically short(Image: PA)
A toddler, whose mum and her new boyfriend stand accused of her murder and sexual assault, had 21 broken bones in the weeks leading up to her tragic death, a court has heard.
Two-year-old Isabelle Welsh collapsed at her home in Hartington Close, Thornaby, Teesside, after suffering a “massive head injury”, and could not be saved, the jury was informed.
Her mother, Alexandra Walker, 25, and Harrison Simpson, 22, deny charges of murder, allowing the death of a child, sexual assault and child cruelty, and are currently on trial at Teesside Crown Court. The pair had only become a couple the previous summer and Simpson became a frequent visitor to Walker’s home, spending “a lot of time” with the young girl, the jury was told.
On September 13, Walker made a 999 call about her daughter who had collapsed, and paramedics found Isabelle at the bottom of the stairs, pulseless and critically ill.
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said she was covered in bruises, particularly on her head, neck, abdomen, back and private parts, her nappy contained blood and she had vomit on her face.
She was rushed to hospital by ambulance, but despite the efforts of specialist doctors, she passed away in the early hours of September 14. The prosecution stated that Isabelle had been violently shaken, her spine over-extended, and her head struck against a hard surface such as a wall or the floor.
Mr Wright said: “For weeks this child had been violently assaulted and her death, by that terrible head injury, was simply the end point in that campaign of violence to which she had been subjected.”
The prosecution case was that both Walker and Simpson had “ample opportunity” to harm the toddler and in such a small, two-bedroom house “each must have been aware of the abuse”.
Mr Wright said Walker brought her daughter to the GP and then hospital 11 days before she died, when Isabelle’s leg was discovered to be fractured, and despite the concerns of some medics, she was discharged back into her mother’s care.
The prosecution said this leg fracture was “no more of an accident than the fatal head injury”. A post-mortem examination revealed that Isabelle had sustained fractures to 21 bones and she was “covered in bruising the result of forceful gripping”, Mr Wright said.
The prosecution said Walker, by her own account, had waited two weeks before reporting the fractured leg. Mr Wright said: “When Isabelle was gravely unwell in the week before she died no medical assistance was sought, and even on the day she died, after her heart had stopped and she appeared to all intents and purposes to be dead, Alexandra Walker only called an ambulance when her stepfather told her to, long after she must have known her daughter was critically ill.
“All of this, we will invite you to conclude, was not because of panic about Isabelle, or a failure to appreciate how ill she was.
“To the contrary, Alexandra Walker and Harrison Simpson each plainly knew how ill she was, they knew that because they had caused her injuries and their failure to summon help from doctors and finally the emergency services, was an act of self-preservation. They knew the questions that would come and had no convincing answer for them.”
Mr Wright stated the pair had an “unhealthy” relationship where alcohol and drugs played a part, leading to deteriorating care for Isabelle before escalating to her being “subjected to regular violence at home by these defendants”.
He revealed that, unusually, CCTV footage had been captured from two cameras fitted at Walker’s residence.
Mr Wright shared an early text from Walker to her new partner in which she claimed she was the main carer for her daughter and was completing her final year studying forensics.
The trial continues.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
