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Tot's mum was meant to keep her safe but she was sexually abused and murdered

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Isabelle Rose Welsh, 2, was collapsed at her home in Thornaby, Teesside - her own mum Alexandra Walker, 25, and her partner, Harrison Simpson, 21, were found guilty of murder

A two-year-old girl was sexually abused and murdered at her own home after suffering 21 separate bone breaks. Little Isabelle Rose Welsh tragically died after being rushed to hospital following concerns for her welfare.

Cleveland Police were called to Hartington Close, in Thornaby, near Middlesbrough around 4.20pm on Saturday, 13 September, 2025 to find the toddler with a "massive head injury." She died in hospital the following day.

Today, her mum, Alexandra Walker, 25, and her partner, Harrison Simpson, 21, were found guilty of murder and causing/allowing the death of a child. Simpson was also found guilty of sexually abusing the toddler.

[Alexandra Walker ]

Alexandra Walker (Image: Facebook)

Jurors at Teesside Crown Court heard how Walker delayed calling 999 as her daughter lay dying, because she feared being confronted about the childs horrific injuries.

Isabelle was found to have suffered 21 separate broken bones in the weeks leading up to her collapse.

Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said the day before Isabelle died from a severe head injury, the defendants had been up late drinking and smoking cannabis.

[Harrison Simpson]

Harrison Simpson, 22

While Walker stayed in bed the following morning, Simpson was up and in sole care of the toddler. He later put Isabelle to bed and around 3pm on September 13, Simpson left the two-bedroom property.

Mr Wright said that within 10 minutes, Walker googled "Why would my toddler be bleeding". Internal CCTV from her home recorded her saying "You're scaring me" and then she googled "what should I do if my child has blood in his stool".

Around this time, Walker went into the kitchen to smoke a cigarette.. Mr Wright said: "It is absolutely obvious that by this time Isabelle is gravely ill. She is quite simply dying. And yet, despite the searches on Google, Alexandra Walker does nothing."

[Isabelle Welsh's family have provided a moving tribute following the death of the Thornaby toddler]

Isabelle Welsh was 'full of smiles'(Image: Family handout)

Around an hour after Simpson left, Walker called her stepfather and he arrived at around 4.15pm and immediately told her to call 999. Earlier that month, Walker had taken her daughter to hospital after Isabelle suffered a broken tibia, and she had explained the injury to medics as Isabelle hurting herself by poking her leg through the cot.

Opening the case to the jury, Mr Wright said: "In due course you may want to consider why there was very significant delay in summoning the emergency services.

"One explanation of course is that Alexandra Walker knew that this time she would not be able to bluff and bluster her way out of the very difficult questions that she knew she would be asked at hospital."

[She had many bone breaks before her death]

She had many bone breaks before her death(Image: Cleveland Police )

Paramedics arrived within a minute and Isabelle was rushed to hospital, but she died in the early hours of the next day. A post mortem revealed the extent of her injuries that her skull was fractured, her brain damaged and that she had been sexually assaulted.

Experts told the jury that Isabelle had been shaken and her head impacted against a wall or the floor.

Walker and Simpson were arrested and the mother said her boyfriend was her new partner, that they had been together for a month, and that she had raised concerns about bruises on Isabelle's body but he had denied being responsible.

During her short relationship with Simpson, she voiced concerns that he 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.

[Isabelle was described as 'full of smiles']

Isabelle Rose Welsh, aged two was killed

But Walker did not break up with him, even though she was suspicious enough to check if he was on the Sex Offenders Register.

In a separate, later interview, she told police she now realised Simpson had been abusing her daughter. Simpson did not answer questions during interviews, Mr Wright said.

He told the court: "They both knew exactly what had happened to Isabelle because in the weeks before her death they had each subjected her to violence culminating in the infliction of that terrible, fatal head injury.

"It would have been...perfectly obvious that child was being seriously assaulted on a regular basis.

[Tributes were paid to Isabelle]

Tributes were paid to Isabelle(Image: Cleveland Police )

"The failure to take her to hospital for days after her leg had been broken and the significant delay in calling 999 on the 13th is evidence of the fact that both were responsible for and aware of a series of violent assaults that they wanted to keep away from medical scrutiny if at all possible."

He said: "She was distressed, she was unwell, deteriorating. These were not hidden events, they were not fleeting or isolated incidents. This was a pattern of abuse over time, in a small house in the presence of both defendants."

Videos taken last June prior to Simpson coming into her life showed the little girl happily playing, healthy and smiling.

The couple had met on Facebook Dating earlier last summer and Simpson became a regular visitor to the house where Walker and Isabelle lived together.

[Alexandra Walker, 26, did not react as the jury returned verdicts]

Alexandra Walker, 26, did not react as the jury returned verdicts(Image: Cleveland Police)

Walker had suffered from domestic violence previously and she had two cameras installed in her home, with one overlooking the back of the house that captured evidence reflected in a window.

The camera showed how Walker was a frequent drinker, sometimes downing up to 10 cans of Stella Artois, and Simpson was a habitual cannabis smoker.

The couple sold cannabis at times and Walker explained how bouts of self-harm which were caught on her CCTV were attempts to get out of selling drugs.

The CCTV footage also proved that Isabelle suffered a broken leg while in the sole care of Simpson.

[Harrison Simpson was also found guilty of sexual assault]

Harrison Simpson was also found guilty of sexual assault(Image: Cleveland Police)

After almost seven hours of deliberations, a jury at Teesside Crown Court convicted Simpson unanimously, and Walker by a majority of 11 to one, of murder.

They also convicted the pair of child cruelty. Simpson was convicted of sexual assault on the toddler, while Walker was cleared of that charge.

Ms Justice Norton thanked the jury for their work on such a difficult case. She will pass sentence on Thursday morning.

In a moving tribute, Isabelle Rose's heartbroken family said: "She was always full of smiles. Isabelle loved to watch Peppa Pig as that was her comfort show. She also loved her dummies and dancing."

Isabelle's dad, Josh Welsh, also paid tribute to his "princess". "Rest in peace Isabelle," he said.

"Daddy loves you all the world and back."

[Flowers and teddies laid at the scene]

Flowers and teddies laid at the scene

Outside court, he said justice had been done and that his daughters murderers deserved whole-life sentences.

Asked what she meant to him, Mr Welsh said: My little girl my whole life has been shattered, my whole family.

My sisters and brothers have lost their niece.

It means the world to me that we have justice for Isabelle.

Kirstie Devine, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: The prosecution presented a raft of evidence including pathology reports, expert medical evidence, CCTV from the home, records of text messages and phone conversations that showed only the two adults who were regularly with Isabelle could have harmed her.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Steve Chatterton of Cleveland Police, said: Isabelle suffered catastrophic injuries at the hands of the very people who should have loved her, cared for her and protected her.

Her life was cruelly taken in the most tragic and heart-breaking circumstances.

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