Couple blame each other for abused girl's murder
SuppliedWarning: This story contains distressing details
A couple accused of sexually abusing and murdering a two-year-old girl blame each other for her "terrible" injuries and death, a court has heard.
Isabelle Welsh suffered multiple injuries in the weeks before she collapsed with a fractured skull at her home in Thornaby in September 2025, Teesside Crown Court was told.
Her mother Alexandra Walker, 25, and her partner Harrison Simpson, 22, deny murder, allowing the death of a child, sexual assault and child cruelty.
In closing speeches, Simpson's barrister said it was a "stereotype" to blame the man, while Walker's said she "would not and did not" harm her daughter and was unaware Isabelle was being abused.
Prosecutors previously said the couple, who began a relationship in the summer of 2025, were both responsible for a "wicked" campaign of sexual abuse and violence.
Walker called 999 on 13 September 2025 to say her daughter had collapsed at their home, with the two-year-old dying in hospital the following day.
The previously "happy and mischievous" girl was found to have a fractured skull and catastrophic brain injury, with doctors also discovering she was covered in bruises and suffered 21 broken bones in the weeks before her death.
'Capable of violence'
Nicholas Lumley KC, representing Simpson, said his client had no motive to hurt Isabelle or any history of violence, but prosecutors were "trotting out the old stereotype" of a man being the abuser, trailing before jurors the "whiff of a predatory male".
He said Simpson showed "no hint" of ill-feeling or frustration towards Isabelle, adding she "wasn't his unwanted child" or "his constant reminder of previous horrors".
"It doesn't have to be the man does it," Lumley said. "Do we really need to be reminded of the viciousness of some women over the years?"
Lumley said he was not calling Walker "completely evil" or "uncaring", but messages in which she used graphic insults about her daughter would "shock" any reasonable person.
He also said Walker was "with Isabelle all the time", much more than Simpson was.
"She was alone with Isabelle for more than long enough to bring her life to an end," Lumley said, adding the mother showed she was "capable of violence" and "callous cruelty" which was "quickly regretted each time."
"The contrast between Harrison Simpson and Alexandra Walker in terms of motive and capacity, never mind the opportunity, could not be greater," Lumley said.
He also said there was no evidence Simpson had sexually assaulted Isbaelle, with messages between the couple about him giving the two-year-old a bath demonstrating "care, compassion and decency" rather than anything "sinister".
In relation to Simpson's refusal to give evidence, Lumley said it could be explained by Simpson "not wanting to throw himself to the lions" and "fearing there is nothing that could be said to satisfy the prosecution's lust for justice".
Lumley said the allegations were "shameful and shocking" and Simpson had been put forward as someone jurors could "focus" their "understandable hatred and disgust" on.
'Instinct to protect'
Representing Walker, Mark McKone KC told jurors his client "would not and did not assault her own daughter".
She also "would not and did not" encourage Simpson to attack Isabelle and neither did she "turn a blind eye" to her boyfriend's violence, the court heard.
"The evidence shows Harrison Simpson harmed Isabelle and only harmed Isabelle when Alexandra Walker was not there to see him doing it," McKone said.
"There have been rare cases of mothers killing a child, but perhaps the strongest human and animal instinct of all is for a mother to protect her child".
He also said there had been instances of mothers sexually abusing their daughters but "that would be so at odds with a mother's natural instinct" as to be "so rare".
He said the evidence strongly suggested Isabelle's fatal head blow and a sexual assault injury were caused when Simpson was "in sole charge" of her on 13 September.
McKone said Isabelle had been "healthy" up to when Simpson first went to the girl's home 43 days before she was fatally injured, with her oldest injury having occurred about six weeks, or 42 days, before her death.
"It would be very strange indeed if [Walker] looked after Isabelle well for over two years but then started regularly breaking Isabelle's bones or encouraging someone else to do that," McKone said.
"Realistically it is not a coincidence Isabelle's bones started to break after Simpson started coming to Isabelle's home," he added.
McKone said Simpson was "charming and persuasive" and Walker would not have been aware of the "bad things" he was doing to Isabelle.
The court heard Walker made searches online to see if Simpson was on a child sex offender register, which McKone said was "black and white evidence" of her "doing something to protect her child rather than to harm her".
The judge, Ms Justice Norton, told jurors it was "not disputed" Isabelle died as a result of an "unlawful assault" upon her but both defendants denied being responsible.
The trial continues.
