Absolutely heartbreaking.
A toddler was sexually abused and murdered by her mum and her partner during a “campaign of violence” which saw her suffer 21 broken bones, a court has heard. Isabelle Rose Welsh, two, died after suffering a catastrophic head injury at her home in Hartington Close, Thornaby, Teesside, jurors were told.
Teesside Crown Court heard that Alexandra Walker and Harrison Simpson had only been together since last summer before Isabelle Welsh’s death. Walker and Simpson deny charges of murder, causing or allowing the death of a child, sexual assault and child cruelty. Jurors were told Simpson frequently visited Walker’s home and spent considerable time with the toddler.
The court also heard that Walker called 999 on September 13, 2025, after two-year-old Isabelle Welsh collapsed at home. Paramedics arrived to find the toddler at the bottom of the stairs with no pulse and in a critical condition. Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said Isabelle had extensive bruising across her body, including to her head, neck, abdomen, back and genital area. He told the court there was blood in her nappy and vomit on her face.
She was taken to hospital by ambulance, but died in the early hours of September 14 despite the efforts of specialist medical staff.
The prosecution alleges that Isabelle had been subjected to violent shaking, causing her spine to be hyperextended, and that her head had been struck against a hard surface, such as a wall or floor.
Mr Wright said: “For weeks this child had been violently assaulted and her death, by that terrible head injury, was simply the endpoint in that campaign of violence to which she had been subjected.”
The prosecution’s case was that both Walker and Simpson had “ample opportunity” to harm the toddler and that, in the confines of the small two-bedroom house, “each must have been aware of the abuse”.
Richard Wright KC told the court that Walker took Isabelle to see a GP before taking her to hospital 11 days before her death, where doctors discovered the youngster had suffered a fractured leg.
Despite concerns raised by some medical professionals, Isabelle was discharged into her mother’s care, jurors heard.
The prosecution alleges that the leg fracture was “no more of an accident than the fatal head injury”.
Mr Wright said a post-mortem examination found Isabelle had suffered 21 fractures and was “covered in bruising the result of forceful gripping”.
Jurors heard the prosecution case that Walker, by her own admission, delayed reporting the fractured leg for two weeks.
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.”
The court heard from Mr Wright that drink and drugs played a role in what he called the couple’s “unhealthy” relationship. He said Isabelle’s care declined in the months before her death and alleged she was “subjected to regular violence at home by these defendants”.
Jurors were also told that two CCTV cameras at Walker’s property had recorded footage relevant to the case.
Mr Wright read to the jury an early message sent by Walker to Simpson, in which she described herself as Isabelle’s primary carer and said she was in the final year of a forensics degree.
Walker and Simpson deny all charges. The trial continues at Teesside Crown Court.