A court has heard distressing details of how a two-year-old girl sustained 21 broken bones and was sexually assaulted before her death. Isabelle Welsh collapsed at her home in Thornaby, near Middlesbrough, in September last year, following what prosecutors described as a "massive head injury." She tragically died in hospital the following day.
Teesside Crown Court was told by prosecutor Richard Wright KC that Isabelle had been subjected to a "campaign of violence" for weeks, with her death being the culmination of this abuse. Her mother, Alexandra Walker, 25, and her partner, Harrison Simpson, 22, both deny charges of murder, allowing the death of a child, sexual assault, and child cruelty.
The court heard that paramedics found Isabelle without a pulse and covered in bruises after a 999 call made by Walker on 13th September. Despite intensive efforts by medical professionals, Isabelle passed away in the early hours of the next day. The prosecution suggested that Isabelle had been violently shaken, her spine over-extended, and her head struck against a hard surface.
Jurors were informed that Walker and Simpson began their relationship last summer, with Simpson frequently staying at Walker's home. The prosecution asserted that both individuals had ample opportunity to harm the toddler, and given the small size of the two-bedroom property, "each must have been aware of the abuse." It was also revealed that Walker took Isabelle to hospital 11 days before her death, where a leg fracture was identified. Despite concerns from some medical staff, Isabelle was discharged back into her mother's care. The prosecutor highlighted that Walker reportedly waited two weeks before reporting the fractured leg, describing it as "no more of an accident than the fatal head injury."
Further evidence presented included a post-mortem examination revealing 21 bone fractures and extensive bruising, consistent with forceful gripping. Messages exchanged between Walker and her mother were read, in which Walker allegedly referred to Simpson as a "paedo." Walker also reportedly expressed to her mother that Simpson preferred to see her with Isabelle rather than alone, describing this as "weird," and discussed him bathing the child by himself. The court also heard that Walker had searched the sex offenders register in Middlesbrough in August of last year. CCTV footage, taken days after Isabelle was hospitalised, captured Walker's mother remarking, "She looks like she is being abused," to which Walker responded by telling her to "chill out." The trial is currently ongoing.