Toddler suffered 'campaign of violence' before alleged murder, court hears

A toddler was subjected to a "campaign of violence" before allegedly being murdered by her mother and her boyfriend, a court has heard.

Two-year-old Isabelle Welsh collapsed at her home in Thornaby, Teesside, on 13 September 2025 having suffered a "massive head injury", jurors at Teesside Crown Court were told.

She was taken to hospital but died in the early hours of 14 September.

A post mortem examination found that Isabelle had suffered 21 broken bones in the weeks leading up to her death, while prosecutors said she had been sexually assaulted and was "covered in bruising, the result of forceful gripping".

Isabelle's mother, Alexandra Walker, 25, and Harrison Simpson, 22, are both currently on trial. They deny murder, allowing the death of a child, sexual assault and child cruelty.

Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said: "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."

'Ample opportunity' to harm toddler

On 13 September, paramedics responded to a 999 call and found Isabelle at the foot of the stairs, without a pulse and gravely ill.

Mr Wright told the court she was covered in bruises, her nappy contained blood and she had vomit on her face.

The prosecution said Isabelle had been violently shaken, her spine over-extended, and her head hit against a hard surface.

Mr Wright said that Walker had taken her daughter to the GP and then hospital 11 days before she died, when Isabelle's leg was found to be fractured, and despite the concerns of some medics, she was discharged back into her mother's care.

Prosecutors claimed the leg fracture was "no more of an accident than the fatal head injury" and said Walker, by her own account, had waited two weeks before reporting the incident.

The prosecution also said that Walker and Simpson had "ample opportunity" to harm the toddler and that in a small, two-bedroom house "each must have been aware of the abuse".

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Couple had 'no convincing answer'

Mr Wright said that no medical assistance had been sought when Isabelle was "gravely unwell" in the week before she died.

He said: "After her heart had stopped and she appeared to all intents and purposes to be dead, Alexandra Walker only called an ambulance when her stepfather told her to, long after she must have known her daughter was critically ill.

"Alexandra Walker and Harrison Simpson each plainly knew how ill she was, they knew that because they had caused her injuries and their failure to summon help from doctors and finally the emergency services, was an act of self-preservation.

"They knew the questions that would come and had no convincing answer for them."

Mr Wright said the couple had an "unhealthy" relationship involving drink and drugs, and it led to the decline in Isabelle's care before it built to her being "subjected to regular violence at home by these defendants".

The trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2026: Toddler suffered 'campaign of violence' before alleged murder, court hears