A ‘murdered’ toddler was gripped by her legs or arms before having her head smashed against a solid object, a court has heard.
Isabelle Welsh suffered a fatal bleed on her brain after she sustained a fractured skull following weeks of alleged physical and sexual abuse.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the two-year-old had 21 fractured bones when she died in September, last year.
The toddler’s mother, Alexandra Walker, and her new boyfriend, Harrison Simpson, are on trial accused of murder at their Thornaby home on September 14, 2025.
Dr Daniel Duplessis, a consultant neuropathologist who studied the damage to Isabelle's brain and spinal cord, said there was clear evidence that she suffered traumatic injury due to the multiple bleeds.
"It's likely a non-accidental event but an event caused by forceful movement of the head," he said.
He told the jury that there wasn't just one area affected by bleeding which tends to mean they were not caused in an accident unless Isabelle fell from a building, a road traffic collision or crush injuries.
The specialist said there was also an older bleed discovered during his examinations.
Concluding his evidence, he said Isabelle suffered a major impact to the skull evident from the fracture but there must have also been very excessive motion of the spine and the head on the spine.
He said there could have been two separate incidents - head impact and violent shaking - but they could have happened at the same time.
"I would favour that she was gripped by the limbs and flung against a surface," he said. "That would explain everything that I have seen.
“But it is also possible that there were two or more events - I can't be certain."
Dr Duplessis said it was impossible to accurately determine the time the fatal injury was inflicted as Isabelle could have been unconscious for several hours before going into cardiac arrest and the paramedics being called.
Dr Sam Hoggard, a Home Office pathologist, said that the vast majority of the injuries would have been clearly visible to the naked eye during weeks of abuse.
He concluded: “This has resulted in her skull fracture and bleeding with in the skull which ultimately resulted in fatal head injuries despite medical staff being able to restart her heart.
“The injuries cannot be explained by anything other than a series of physical assaults and sexual assault in the days and weeks leading up to Isabelle’s death.”
Another medical expert, Dr Jo McPartland, a pathologist who works in the Alder Hey Children’s hospital in Liverpool, dealt with the damage caused to Isabelle’s eyes before her death last year.
The specialist said there were too many haemorrhages in the toddler’s eyes for her to count.
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Simpson, 22, of Greenham Close in Thorntree, Middlesbrough, and 25-year-old Walker, of Hartington Close in Thornaby, both deny murder.
The pair also deny four other charges involving Isabelle, including: causing or allowing the death of a child on September 14; two counts of assault by penetration between September 10 and September 14 last year; and cruelty to a person under 16.
The jury will not be sitting on Monday or Tuesday with evidence expected to resume on Wednesday.
The trial continues.
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