A mother on trial for allegedly murdering her two-year-old daughter delayed dialling 999 despite the child being "plainly gravely ill", a court has been told. Isabelle Welsh died hours after being rushed to hospital when paramedics found her covered in bruises and not breathing at her Thornaby home on September 13 last year.
The court heard that the toddler had sustained 21 separate bone fractures and endured physical and sexual abuse in the days and weeks leading up to her death. Her mother, Alexandra Walker, 25, of Hartington Close, and her partner, Harrison Simpson, 22, of Greenham Close, Thorntree, are on trial charged with her murder. Both also face charges of causing or allowing her death, assault by penetration in September last year, and cruelty to a person under 16. Walker and Simpson deny all charges.
Day of the incident
As proceedings entered their second day at Teesside Crown Court, the jury heard about the events in the two-bedroom house hours before the ambulance was called. Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said Walker had a "slow start to the day" after the pair spent the night drinking and taking drugs in the kitchen before sleeping at around 3am. The prosecution alleges that Simpson got up with the toddler, though she does not appear on CCTV footage. At roughly 11am, Simpson claimed Isabelle had "not long gone down to sleep". Walker thanked him for attending to the child.
At about 3pm, Simpson left the property. Around 10 minutes later, CCTV captured footsteps consistent with Walker going upstairs. The jury was told that Walker conducted Google searches including: "Why would my toddler be bleeding." She was then heard moving between rooms and the kitchen, and audible saying "you're scaring me". At that point, only Isabelle and Walker were in the house.
Delay in calling for help
Mr Wright told the court that Walker then searched: "What should I do if my child is bleeding in his stool." He addressed the jury: "It's absolutely obvious, we suggest, that she is plainly gravely ill. Quite simply she is dying." Despite the searches and calling out to Isabelle, the prosecutor stated: "Walker does nothing. She is having a cigarette in the kitchen, making Google searches... not calling for an ambulance or a doctor or calling her mother or stepfather for advice."
At 3.59pm, she contacted her stepfather, who arrived at 4.14pm and immediately instructed her to dial 999. Mr Wright commented: "It doesn't take [her stepfather] more than a second or two to say ring 999... that reveals the reality of how gravely ill Isabelle is." He advised the jury to consider the significance of the delay: "One explanation is that Alexandra Walker knew that this time she wouldn't be able to bluff and bluster her way out of the very difficult questions she knew she was going to be asked both by paramedics and at the hospital."
Paramedics' discovery and hospital care
When paramedics arrived, within a minute they found Isabelle lying on her back at the foot of the stairs. "She was unresponsive, she had no pulse, she was noted to be cold to the touch," said Mr Wright. She was rushed to hospital. Walker told paramedics: "I put her down for a sleep - when I went to wake her up she was like this."
While Isabelle was in hospital, a series of text messages and phone calls were exchanged between Walker and Simpson. At 2.48am on September 14, Isabelle was pronounced dead. Both were arrested. Walker stated that Simpson was her new partner of only one month. She claimed to have previously raised concerns about bruising on Isabelle's body, which he denied causing. In a later interview, she said she had come to understand that Simpson had been abusing her daughter. Simpson refused to answer questions during his interviews.
Extent of injuries
Jurors were told that Isabelle had fractures to 21 individual bones, including her skull and spine, alongside a bleed on the brain and 97 soft tissue injuries. Mr Wright stated: "She had been subject to a series of physical and sexual abuse in the days and weeks leading up to her death." The trial continues.
