Mum of sexually abused and murdered tot thought boyfriend may be a paedo – Did nothing
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: A mother of two-year-old Isabelle Welsh had a feeling her new ‘weird’ boyfriend may be a paedophile before her daughter was sexually abused and murdered
A mother convicted of murdering her two-year-old daughter, who was sexually abused before she suffered a catastrophic head injury, thought her new partner may be a paedophile – but stuck with him.
Mum Alexandra Walker, 26, and her partner Harrison Simpson, 22, were convicted of the murder of her daughter Isabelle Welsh at Teesside Crown Court today (July 28). Simpson was convicted of sexual assault on the toddler, while Walker was cleared of that charge.
Isabelle was found to have been sexually assaulted and suffered 21 broken bones in the weeks before she collapsed at her home in Thornaby, Teesside, last September.
Isabelle Welsh was found to have 21 bone breaks(Image: Family handout)
The couple had met on Facebook Dating earlier last summer and Simpson became a regular visitor to the house where Walker and Isabelle lived together.
During their short relationship, Walker voiced concerns that Simpson might be a paedophile, and thought it was “weird” that he preferred to see her and Isabelle at the same time, rather than be alone with his girlfriend.
But Walker did not break up with him, even though she was suspicious enough to check if he was on the Sex Offenders’ Register. Simpson also bathed Isabelle without Walker’s permission while he supposedly looked after the two-year-old while her mum attended a hospital appointment.
Alexandra Walker thought her boyfriend might be a paedophile
A post mortem revealed the extent of Isabelle’s injuries and found that her skull was fractured, her brain damaged and that she had been sexually assaulted.
Experts told the jury that Isabelle had been shaken and her head impacted against a wall or the floor.
The court heard when paramedics arrived at the family home on the day Isabelle died, they found bruises all over the little girl’s body. This included to her head, neck, abdomen, back and private parts.
Harrison Simpson met Walker on Facebook dating
The paramedics also found blood in her nappy and sick on her face after emergency services were finally called by Walker’s step-father, who was asked to come to the home.
Walker had delayed ringing 999 as her daughter was dying and even Googled “why would my toddler be bleeding”.
The night when Isabelle was fatally injured, the court heard how the couple stayed up late with Walker drinking cans of lager and Simpson smoking cannabis.
Just 11 days before her fatal collapse, Isabelle was taken to her GP and then to hospital with a broken leg.
Despite misgivings of some staff, the little girl was discharged to her mother who had shown aggression towards medics when concerns were raised about what had happened.
Walker explained that Isabelle must have hurt her leg when it got caught in her cot.
Isabelle Welsh’s head was impacted against a wall or floor, the jury was told(Image: Cleveland Police )
On that occasion too, Walker had waited two weeks to seek medical help for Isabelle, despite the toddler being in pain and struggling to walk.
Walker’s concerned mother said “looks like she is being abused” during one visit after Isabelle’s leg was broken.
In a horrific twist of fate one of the nurses who treated Isabelle’s broken leg – and who had concerns about her care – was on duty when she was brought back to University Hospital of North Tees, in a state of collapse 11 days later. Simpson and Walker were arrested after Isabelle’s death.
Outside court, Isabelle’s father Josh Welsh said justice had been done and that his daughter’s murderers deserved whole-life sentences.
Asked what she meant to him, Mr Welsh said: “My little girl… my whole life has been shattered, my whole family. My sisters and brothers have lost their niece. It means the world to me that we have justice for Isabelle.”
Kirstie Devine, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The prosecution presented a raft of evidence including pathology reports, expert medical evidence, CCTV from the home, records of text messages and phone conversations that showed only the two adults who were regularly with Isabelle could have harmed her.”
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Steve Chatterton of Cleveland Police, said: “Isabelle suffered catastrophic injuries at the hands of the very people who should have loved her, cared for her and protected her. Her life was cruelly taken in the most tragic and heart-breaking circumstances.”
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