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Two-year-old girl sexually abused and murdered by mum's new boyfriend in weeks of hell

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Alexandra Walker, 26, and her boyfriend Harrison Simpson, 22, have been jailed for the murder of her two-year-old daughter, Isabelle Welsh, who had been sexually abused

A man has been jailed for life after sexually abusing and murdering his new girlfriend's two-year-old daughter. Isabelle Welsh endured weeks of horrendous abuse, including suffering 21 broken bones, before she collapsed at her home in Thornaby, Teesside, in September.

Alexandra Walker, 26, and her boyfriend Harrison Simpson, 22, were found guilty of murder and child cruelty this week following a trial at Teesside Crown Court. Today, they were jailed for life with minimum terms of 28 years and 22 years respectively.

Simpson was also convicted of sexually assaulting Isabelle while her mother was acquitted of that charge. The prosecution stated that Isabelle had been a happy, healthy child until her mother began dating Simpson last summer.

[Isabelle Welsh]

Isabelle Welsh was found to have 21 bone breaks(Image: Family handout)

Walker searched for Simpson on the sex offenders' register after she became suspicious about his behaviour, which included bathing Isabelle without her prior consent.

However, she continued to date him, despite expressing concerns that his behaviour towards them was "weird".

Eleven days before the fatal injuries were inflicted, Walker took Isabelle to hospital with a broken leg which raised medical professionals' suspicions about her care.

Walker had delayed taking Isabelle to be examined by approximately two weeks, jurors were informed.

Even when Isabelle collapsed at home, and was dying, Walker again put off calling 999.

[Alexandra Walker, 26, did nothing to keep her daughter safe]

Alexandra Walker, 26, did nothing to keep her daughter safe(Image: Cleveland Police)

When paramedics arrived they discovered her covered in bruises and there was blood in her nappy.

The little girl passed away in hospital the next day and Walker and Simpson were arrested.

Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, informed the court: "For weeks this child had been violently assaulted and her death, by that terrible head injury, was simply the end point in that campaign of violence to which she had been subjected."

Ms Justice Norton jailed the pair for life with minimum terms of 28 years and six months for Simpson and 22 years for Walker, both minus time spent on remand.

The nine female jurors who heard the case were in court for the sentencing, as well as family members supporting Isabelles father, Josh Welsh.

[Simpson sexually abused the tot]

Simpson sexually abused the tot(Image: Cleveland Police)

Ms Justice Norton said the murder was the final act in a series of assaults which the pair tried to cover up.

She said: I have no doubt whatsoever that your lack of urgency or concern for your child was because you wrongly believed that Isabelle was already dead, and you were working out what to do to save your own skin.

Ms Justice Norton added: Any death is a tragedy. The death of a very young child at the hands of those who should have cared for, protected, and loved her as she no doubt loved them is particularly distressing for all involved.

She said Isabelle sustained an unsurvivable head injury in the 24 hours before she died in hospital.

The girl was sexually assaulted around the time the fatal blow was inflicted, the judge said.

[Isabelle Welsh]

Isabelle Welsh's head was impacted against a wall or floor, the jury was told(Image: Cleveland Police )

The defendants inflicted the injuries and then failed to get Isabelle medical help, she said, even though it was obvious that she needed it.

There were no witnesses to the abuse and CCTV cameras set up in the house did not capture it and the judge said there was a wall of silence around what happened.

Simpson did not answer police questions or give evidence at the trial and Walker lied from start to finish, the judge said, claiming to be more highly educated than she was, pretending she had breast cancer, telling people she did not take drugs when she actually sold them.

The mother claimed she did not drink much, but on the night Isabelle was murdered she downed 10 cans of Stella Artois.

She was not just a liar but a fantasist and an attention-seeker who self-harmed then claimed to have been attacked, the judge said.

[She had been a happy child before Simpson came into her life, the court heard]

She had been a happy child before Simpson came into her life, the court heard(Image: Cleveland Police )

Walker had delayed taking Isabelle to be checked out by some two weeks, jurors were told.

The judge said tragically some medical staff who expressed safeguarding concerns were over-ruled by doctors who accepted Walkers false account.

And even when Isabelle collapsed at home, and was dying, Walker again delayed ringing 999.

Instead, she was caught on internal CCTV cameras smoking a cigarette in her kitchen.

Walker had Googled why would my toddler be bleeding rather than alert the emergency services.

She only called 999 after her step-father came round and insisted Isabelle needed medical attention.

[Isabelle was described as 'full of smiles']

Isabelle Rose Welsh, aged two was killed

When paramedics arrived they found Isabelle covered in bruises and there was blood in her nappy.

The little girl died in hospital the next day and Walker and Simpson were arrested.

The judge said both were jointly guilty of murder and child cruelty.

The judge considered a whole life tariff for Simpson but could not be sure that the murder was sexually motivated, although it happened around the time of the fatal blow.

She could not be sure because the jury cleared Walker of sexual assault, but convicted her of murder.

[Flowers and teddies laid at the scene]

Flowers and teddies laid at the scene

The judge said the injuries the two-year-old suffered were sadistic and that she was obviously in pain and distressed, and in the final week of her life, gravely ill.

She jailed Simpson, saying only he will know the motivation for what happened.

And jailing Walker, she said the mother had repeatedly lied to cover up the abuse.

She said: Right to the very end, your interest was not in Isabelle, but in yourself.

The judge commended officers who worked on the case, including Detective Chief Inspector Chatterton, who said: This has been, without a doubt, one of the worst cases my team and I have dealt with.

In a statement, Isabelles family previously said: Isabelle should have had her whole life ahead of her, but she was taken from us in the most heartbreaking way.

She was so loved and our lives will never be the same without her.

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