WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Isabelle Welsh was just two years old when she was murdered by her own mother Alexandra Walker and her boyfriend Harrison Simpson
Footage has been released showing the mother of murdered tot Isabelle Welsh smoking while the toddler’s life ebbed away.
The two year old suffered appalling physical and sexual abuse leading up to her death. Medical staff discovered she had sustained 21 broken bones and a devastating head injury before collapsing at her Thornaby home.
Her despicable killers – her own mother Alexandra Walker and Walker’s paedophile partner Harrison Simpson – were both convicted of murder this week after a trial at Teesside Crown Court. They have now been handed life sentences.
The jury heard distressing testimony detailing how little Isabelle became “floppy and unresponsive” on September 13 last year while in her mother’s care at the Thornaby residence. Simpson had been minding Isabelle that morning before departing that afternoon.
In unsettling video footage released by Cleveland Police, Walker can be seen reflected in her kitchen window smoking a cigarette as her toddler lay dying. Rather than contacting emergency services, Walker had searched online for “why would my toddler be bleeding”, reports Teesside Live.
She only dialled 999 after being instructed to do so by her stepdad, whom she’d summoned to her Hartington Close address. Despite efforts, Isabelle could not be saved and the youngster tragically passed away hours later.
While conversing with a nurse, during her police questioning and throughout the court proceedings, Walker attributed all the child’s injuries to her new partner. In her sentencing remarks, Judge Ms Justice Norton described the murder as the culmination of a series of assaults that the pair attempted to conceal.
Addressing Walker’s delay in phoning 999, she stated: “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.”
On Tuesday, a jury convicted Walker, 26, and Harrison, 22, of murder and child cruelty. Simpson, from Greenham Close in Thorntree, was additionally found guilty of sexually assaulting the toddler.
The judge noted that the girl was sexually assaulted approximately when the fatal injury was delivered. The defendants caused the injuries and subsequently neglected to seek medical attention for Isabelle, she stated, “even though it was obvious that she needed it”.
No witnesses observed the abuse and CCTV cameras installed in the property failed to record it, with the judge noting a “wall of silence” surrounding the events. Simpson refused to answer police enquiries or testify during the trial, while Walker “lied from start to finish”, the judge remarked.
She noted that Walker had falsely claimed higher educational qualifications, pretended to have breast cancer, and told others she abstained from drugs while actually dealing them. The mother maintained she rarely drank, yet on the evening Isabelle was killed she consumed 10 cans of Stella Artois.
The judge branded her not merely a liar but “a fantasist and an attention-seeker” who inflicted wounds upon herself before alleging assault. She declared: “Right to the very end, your interest was not in Isabelle, but in yourself.”
The judge revealed she had weighed up imposing a whole life tariff on Simpson but couldn’t establish with certainty that the killing was sexually driven, despite it occurring around the moment of the fatal strike. This uncertainty arose because while the jury acquitted Walker of sexual assault, they found her guilty of murder.
The judge described the injuries sustained by the two year old as “sadistic”, noting she was “obviously in pain and distressed, and in the final week of her life, gravely ill”.
Simpson received a life sentence with a minimum term of 28 years behind bars. Walker, of Hartington Close, was similarly handed a life sentence, serving at least 22 years.
In additional footage issued today by police, Isabelle appears cheerful while playing on a sofa. The court heard that Isabelle had been a contented, thriving child until her mother began a relationship with Simpson last summer.
The footage was captured before the killers connected through Facebook Dating. Isabelle’s relatives said in a statement the youngster was “so loved”.
They stated: “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.
“Whilst today’s result cannot undo the pain caused or bring Isabelle back, it does mean justice has been served. We will remember Isabelle forever and ask for privacy as we continue to grieve as a family.”
Outside the court following sentencing, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Steve Chatterton remarked: “This investigation exposed the heartbreaking and sustained abuse of a vulnerable little girl who should have been protected, loved and cared for.
“Instead, Isabelle suffered repeated and serious injuries over a prolonged period before ultimately losing her life as a result of a devastating attack. Our thoughts remain first and foremost with Isabelle.
“She was a defenceless child whose life was cruelly taken from her, and the circumstances of her death have deeply affected everyone involved in this investigation. Today, we remember Isabelle.
“She deserved a future filled with love, happiness and safety. She was denied that opportunity, and she must never be forgotten.”
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