Grandmother saw bruise on toddler before death
Supplied- Warning: This story contains distressing details
The grandmother of a toddler, whose mother has been accused along with her partner of abusing and murdering her, saw a bruise on the child's back days before her death, a court has heard.
Two-year-old Isabelle Welsh collapsed at home in Thornaby, near Middlesbrough, having suffered a "massive head injury" in September last year. She died in hospital the following day.
Her mother Alexandra Walker, 25, and her partner Harrison Simpson, 22, deny murder, allowing the death of a child, sexual assault and child cruelty.
Jurors heard Isabelle's maternal grandmother Claire Walker, who told the court she believed her daughter loved her child, reported the bruise to detectives after Isabelle's death.
The police interview with Claire Walker was played at Teesside Crown Court.
She told detectives the toddler was chatty and intelligent and had generally been in good health up to her sustaining a broken leg.
She received hospital treatment for that injury which jurors have been happened 11 days before she sustained a fatal head injury.
After the mother and toddler were allowed home from hospital, the grandmother visited them and spotted a bruise on Isabelle's back.
Alexandra Walker told her Isabelle bumped her head on the settee, according to the police tapes.
The grandmother also told officers she thought Isabelle had picked up a virus from hospital, which explained why she looked unwell.
'Visibly shaking'
In court, Clare Walker told Mark McKone KC - representing Alexandra Walker - that she had never met Harrison Simpson, who had been dating her daughter for some months.
She told the court her daughter explained that Simpson "had anxiety and didn't want to meet with me".
She said her daughter had been a victim of domestic abuse in the past and that was why she had CCTV cameras in her home.
She had never seen her daughter hit Isabelle, she said, and commented her granddaughter was "always immaculately dressed" and the house was always clean.
Asked by McKone if her daughter loved Isabelle, Walker replied: "I think she did."
Alexandra Walker's stepfather Daniel Ackroyd told police he received a panicked phone call from his stepdaughter after Isabelle collapsed.
He rushed to the house and performed first aid on the toddler until paramedics arrived, jurors were told.
In court, McKone asked: "Do you agree Alex worshipped Isabelle?"
Ackroyd said: "I do agree with that."
He said his stepdaughter was "visibly shaking" when he arrived and he dropped to the floor to help Isabelle.
McKone asked: "Was Alex very distressed?"
Ackroyd replied: "Yes sir, very."
The trial continues.
