10:38am23/06/26
Case outline
The jury for the trial was sworn in yesterday afternoon and Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, will be opening the case against the two defendants this morning.
The barrister will be giving an outline of the prosecution case before the evidence begins after Isabelle Rose Welsh died last year.
Harrison Simpson, 22, and 25-year-old Alexandra Walker, are charged with the murder of the toddler in Thornaby on September 14.
They both pleaded not guilty to the charge when they made an appearance at Teesside Crown Court.
11:37am23/06/26
Prosecution opening
The Honourable Ms Justice Norton has spoken to the jury about their roles and responsibilities before the trial can begin.
Mr Wright is now addressing the jury as the trial gets underway.
The barrister will go through events leading up to the death of the toddler on September 13 last year and the investigations carried out to find the cause.
He says: "A 999 call was made to the emergency operator from a house at Hartington Close in Thornaby.
"The caller was the female defendant Alexandra Walker and she was calling about her two-year-old daughter Isabelle. Isabelle was in a state of collapse.
"She was gravely unwell and her heart had stopped beating.
"A call of that sort to the emergency services results in a priority response from the ambulance service and in this case a team of paramedics were at the property within a minute of being alerted to the request for an ambulance."
11:40am23/06/26
Medical evidence (warning graphic details)
He continues: "They found Isabelle on her back at the foot of the stairs. She had no pulse and was plainly gravely ill.
"Her body was covered in bruises, in particular she was very obviously bruised to her head, neck, abdomen, back, the area around her tina and her mole.
"Her nappy contained blood and her face was contaminated with the remnants of vomit.
"She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance where she was treated by a team of specialist doctors but sadly, they could not save her, and she died in the early hours of the September 14.
"Isabelle’s death was not the result of some form of naturally occurring illness. She died because shortly before her terminal collapse somebody had inflicted a massive head injury upon her.
"Her skull had been fractured, her brain had been injured, and her heart had stopped as a result of that assault upon her.
"The mechanism of that injury involved Isabelle being violently shaken with her head and spine flexing and over extending, with her head impacting a hard and unyielding surface such as a wall or the floor.
"This was no accident. It was the deliberate infliction of injury on that little girl. It was, say the prosecution, murder."
Case outline
The jury for the trial was sworn in yesterday afternoon and Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, will be opening the case against the two defendants this morning.
The barrister will be giving an outline of the prosecution case before the evidence begins after Isabelle Rose Welsh died last year.
Harrison Simpson, 22, and 25-year-old Alexandra Walker, are charged with the murder of the toddler in Thornaby on September 14.
They both pleaded not guilty to the charge when they made an appearance at Teesside Crown Court.
11:37am23/06/26
Prosecution opening
The Honourable Ms Justice Norton has spoken to the jury about their roles and responsibilities before the trial can begin.
Mr Wright is now addressing the jury as the trial gets underway.
The barrister will go through events leading up to the death of the toddler on September 13 last year and the investigations carried out to find the cause.
He says: "A 999 call was made to the emergency operator from a house at Hartington Close in Thornaby.
"The caller was the female defendant Alexandra Walker and she was calling about her two-year-old daughter Isabelle. Isabelle was in a state of collapse.
"She was gravely unwell and her heart had stopped beating.
"A call of that sort to the emergency services results in a priority response from the ambulance service and in this case a team of paramedics were at the property within a minute of being alerted to the request for an ambulance."
11:40am23/06/26
Medical evidence (warning graphic details)
He continues: "They found Isabelle on her back at the foot of the stairs. She had no pulse and was plainly gravely ill.
"Her body was covered in bruises, in particular she was very obviously bruised to her head, neck, abdomen, back, the area around her tina and her mole.
"Her nappy contained blood and her face was contaminated with the remnants of vomit.
"She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance where she was treated by a team of specialist doctors but sadly, they could not save her, and she died in the early hours of the September 14.
"Isabelle’s death was not the result of some form of naturally occurring illness. She died because shortly before her terminal collapse somebody had inflicted a massive head injury upon her.
"Her skull had been fractured, her brain had been injured, and her heart had stopped as a result of that assault upon her.
"The mechanism of that injury involved Isabelle being violently shaken with her head and spine flexing and over extending, with her head impacting a hard and unyielding surface such as a wall or the floor.
"This was no accident. It was the deliberate infliction of injury on that little girl. It was, say the prosecution, murder."
Where’s the protectiveness that you should have around children- your own children!!?
