Warning: Distressing content
Alexandra Walker, 26, and her partner Harrison Simpson, 22, were convicted of the murder of Walker's two-year-old daughter Isabelle Welsh at Teesside Crown Court today (July 28). Simpson was also convicted of sexual assault on the toddler, while Walker was cleared of that charge.
Mother's suspicions
The couple met on Facebook Dating earlier last summer, and Simpson became a regular visitor to the home where Walker and Isabelle lived in Thornaby, Teesside. During their short relationship, Walker voiced concerns that Simpson might be a paedophile, and thought it was “weird” that he preferred to see her and Isabelle at the same time, rather than be alone with his girlfriend. However, Walker did not break up with him, even though she was suspicious enough to check if he was on the Sex Offenders’ Register. Simpson also bathed Isabelle without Walker’s permission while he looked after the two-year-old while her mother attended a hospital appointment.
Injuries and death
Isabelle was found to have been sexually assaulted and suffered 21 broken bones in the weeks before she collapsed at home last September. A post-mortem revealed that her skull was fractured, her brain damaged, and she had been sexually assaulted. Experts told the jury that Isabelle had been shaken and her head impacted against a wall or the floor.
When paramedics arrived on the day Isabelle died, they found bruises all over her body, including to her head, neck, abdomen, back, and private parts. They also found blood in her nappy and sick on her face after emergency services were finally called by Walker's step-father, who had been asked to come to the home. Walker had delayed ringing 999 as her daughter was dying and even Googled “why would my toddler be bleeding”.
Night of the fatal injury
The court heard that on the night Isabelle was fatally injured, the couple stayed up late with Walker drinking cans of lager and Simpson smoking cannabis.
