A two-year-old girl suffered 21 broken bones and was subjected to a 'campaign of violence' by her mother and her mother's new boyfriend that ended in her murder, a court has heard. Isabelle Rose Welsh was found lifeless at the foot of the stairs at her home in Thornaby, Teesside, last September, Teesside Crown Court was told on Monday.
The toddler's body was 'covered in bruises', particularly on her head, neck, abdomen, back, and genitals and bottom, jurors heard. Her mother, Alexandra Walker, 25, and her boyfriend, Harrison Simpson, 21, are on trial charged with Isabelle's murder, causing or allowing the death of a child, assault by penetration of a child under 13, and child cruelty.
Prosecution details the fatal injuries
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said Isabelle's death was not due to natural causes. 'She died because shortly before her terminal collapse somebody had inflicted a massive head injury upon her. Her skull had been fractured, her brain had been injured, and her heart had stopped as a result of that assault upon her,' he told the court. The couple had been together for barely three months before Isabelle's death, and Simpson soon became a regular visitor, spending 'a lot of time' with the little girl.
Mr Wright described the couple's relationship as 'unhealthy', with drink and drugs playing a role, and said it led to a decline in Isabelle's care before escalating to regular violence. Jurors heard that Isabelle suffered a broken leg towards the end of August, but it took days before her mother sought medical treatment. Walker took Isabelle to a GP on September 2, who referred them to North Tees Hospital, 11 days before she died.
Mother's aggressive response to medical concerns
The mother claimed her toddler had hurt herself by poking her leg through her cot, but an X-ray revealed a spiral fracture of the tibia. Medics followed child protection protocols, Mr Wright said. 'The response of Alexandra Walker was not the response that you might expect in a concerned mother who had just been informed that her daughter had a broken leg that had gone untreated for several days or weeks. Instead, Alexandra Walker became aggressive and stood up to challenge the nurse. She told her that it was unnecessary and over the top for her daughter to be admitted. She demanded to see another doctor and then declared that she was taking her home anyway,' he added.
Isabelle was admitted due to safeguarding concerns, but 'differences of opinion' between paediatric and orthopaedic teams led to her discharge the next day. In a tragic twist, one of the nurses most concerned about the leg injury on September 2 was working in the emergency department on September 13 when Isabelle was readmitted with a fatal head injury.
Concerns about boyfriend and delayed medical help
After being allowed home, Walker complained about her treatment and researched how to win compensation against the NHS, the prosecution said. Jurors saw messages between Walker and her mother discussing Simpson, in which Walker called him a 'paedo'. She said Simpson preferred to see her and Isabelle together rather than alone with her, telling her mother: 'It's weird.' Weeks before Isabelle's death, Walker searched the sex offenders register in Middlesbrough on her phone, Mr Wright said, in the context of his relationship with Isabelle.
Walker also revealed to her mother that Simpson had bathed Isabelle while alone with her. Despite these concerns, Walker left Isabelle alone with Simpson the very next evening. Mr Wright told jurors: '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.' Both defendants had 'ample opportunity' to harm the toddler, and in a small two-bedroom house, 'each must have been aware of the abuse'.
Delayed emergency call and self-preservation
Mr Wright said that when Isabelle was gravely unwell in the week before her death, no medical assistance was sought. On the day she died, after her heart had stopped, 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,' he said.
The trial continues.
