A mother and her boyfriend have been found guilty of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Isabelle Welsh, who suffered 21 broken bones and a fractured skull before her death.
Alexandra Walker, 26, and Harrison Simpson, 22, were convicted at Teesside Crown Court after a jury deliberated for almost seven hours. Simpson was found guilty unanimously of murder, child cruelty and sexual assault of a child. Walker was convicted of murder by a majority of 11 to one and of child cruelty unanimously, but cleared of sexually assaulting her daughter.
“Mother and boyfriend guilty of murdering two-year-old Isabelle Welsh after 'wicked' abuse campaign.”
Isabelle collapsed at her home in Thornaby in September 2025 with a catastrophic brain injury. Prosecutors said the couple subjected her to a "wicked" campaign of abuse and violence that began shortly after Simpson entered her life. Walker, who had voiced concerns that Simpson might be a paedophile and even checked the Sex Offenders' Register, did not end the relationship.
On the morning of 13 September, Isabelle suffered her fatal injuries while alone with Simpson as Walker lay in bed after a drink and drugs binge. Walker delayed calling 999, instead googling “why would my toddler be bleeding” and smoking a cigarette before phoning her stepfather, who instructed her to call for help. Paramedics arrived within a minute to find Isabelle not breathing, cold to the touch, and covered in bruises to her head, neck, abdomen, back and private parts. She died in hospital the following day.
A post-mortem revealed a fractured skull and evidence of sexual assault. Experts told the jury Isabelle had been shaken and her head impacted against a wall or floor. The couple blamed each other for her injuries.
Ms Justice Norton, who thanked jurors for their work on a “difficult” case, will pass sentence on Thursday. Each murderer will receive a life sentence, with the minimum term to be set then. Isabelle's family said she had her "whole life ahead of her" but it was "taken in the most heartbreaking way."