A mother standing trial alongside her boyfriend for the murder of her toddler has told a court she "got frustrated being a parent at times" but maintained she "never took it out" on her daughter.
Court Testimony
Isabelle Welsh was two years old when she collapsed at her home in Hartington Close, Thornaby, Teesside, following a "massive head injury". Prosecutors say she was physically and sexually abused, and was found to have suffered 21 broken bones in the weeks before she died last September.
Her mother, Alexandra Walker, 26, and Harrison Simpson, 22, deny murder, allowing the death of a child, sexual assault and child cruelty. On Wednesday, Walker started giving evidence in her trial at Teesside Crown Court, tearfully denying she had ever shaken Isabelle, banged her against a wall or fractured her arm, leg, spine or skull.
She said if she had seen anyone being violent towards Isabelle she would have "kicked them out of my house and phoned the police". Walker told jurors the suggestion that she had sexually abused Isabelle, or encouraged anyone to abuse her, had "absolutely destroyed" her, saying her daughter was "the person who meant most to me in the world".
Parental Frustration
She said becoming a mother was "the happiest day of my life" and she felt "unconditional love" when Isabelle was born. Asked about a conversation with a friend in which she called her daughter a "little f****** shit", Walker said: "I'm very ashamed of saying them things, especially after what's happened, it was supposed to be a private conversation with a friend. I didn't mean anything malicious by it."
She said she had been trying to wean Isabelle off her dummy at the time, and the girl had been "more whingy than usual". Walker said: "I admit I got frustrated being a parent at times but I never took it out on my daughter." She told the court she had been in abusive relationships before, including one with Isabelle's father, and her confidence was "not good" when she met Simpson.
Relationship with Simpson
Walker said he knew from her dating profile that she had a child, and initially treated her "nicely" and her daughter "kindly". She told jurors Simpson had pressured her to sell cannabis, and at one point she stabbed herself with a knife to "get out of selling drugs". Walker said Isabelle's health deteriorated after she met Simpson, but she did not think he would harm her when he was alone with her.
Asked who was most important to her between her daughter and her boyfriend, she replied: "Isabelle." Nicholas Lumley KC, defending Simpson, earlier told the court his client would not be giving evidence. The trial continues.
