Police failed to arrest a child abuser despite a warrant being issued 18 months before he murdered and sexually assaulted his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter.
Isabelle Welsh suffered from weeks of abuse, including suffering 21 broken bones, before she collapsed at her home in Thornaby, Teesside, in September.
Alexandra Walker, 26, and her boyfriend Harrison Simpson, 22, were convicted of murder and child cruelty earlier this week following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.
Simpson was also convicted of sexually assaulting Isabelle, while her mother was cleared of that charge.
Cleveland Police has admitted that officers failed to execute a warrant issued by Teesside Magistrates’ Court for Simpson’s arrest in March 2024, The Sunday Times reported.
The warrant was issued after Simpson failed to attend court for breaching a non-molestation order, an injunction designed to protect victims of domestic abuse.
It is understood that the non-molestation order was put in place after reports that Simpson had harassed and threatened a woman.
The force said in a statement: “Multiple enquiries and arrest attempts were carried out to try to locate and arrest him, but these proved unsuccessful.”
It added: “We recognise the time Simpson had an outstanding arrest warrant is far from adequate.
“A review of this was immediately conducted upon his arrest for murder.
“This review, along with a determination to continually improve our processes around suspect management, has led to a number of recent changes, such as ongoing improved visibility across the force around outstanding warrants, a comprehensive data system which tracks all outstanding warrants, and stringent oversight including a governance group led by a superintendent.”
Ms Justice Norton said Isabelle’s murder was the final act in a sustained campaign of violence, which the pair then attempted to cover up.
She jailed them for life with minimum terms of 28 years and six months for Simpson and 22 years for Walker, both minus time spent on remand.
Prosecutor Paul Abrahams told the court: “This was a campaign of quite deliberate extreme violence.”
Ms Justice Norton said: “Any death is a tragedy. The death of a very young child at the hands of those who should have cared for, protected, and loved her – as she no doubt loved them – is particularly distressing for all involved.”
She said the toddler sustained an unsurvivable head injury in the 24 hours before she died in hospital.
The girl was sexually assaulted around the time the fatal blow was inflicted, the judge said.
