Hang adoptive father for killing baby says granny

THE grandmother of battered and murdered child Elsie Scully-Hicks said yesterday that her adoptive father should hang for his cruelty.

Sian O’Brien, 51, said gay Matthew Scully-Hicks “got off lightly” with a life jail sentence for killing 18-monthold Elsie.

She slated social services for failing to spot Elsie’s extensive injuries during 15 visits to Scully-Hicks’ home near Cardiff.

Scully-Hicks, 31, must serve a minimum 18 years for murdering Elsie two weeks after formally adopting her.

Ms O’Brien said: “It’s about justice for Shayla [Elsie’s original name].

“I think Scully-Hicks has got quite lightly.”

Asked if he ought to pay for the crime with his life, she said: “He off should have.” Elsie died on May 29 last year, four days after being violently shaken by Scully-Hicks.

The fitness instructor had subjected Elsie to seven months of assaults and beatings.

Her injuries included a fractured skull, three cracked ribs, internal bleeding and broken bones.

Ms O’Brien, who has adopted Elsie’s older brother and sister, spoke of her frustration at being denied the chance to care for Elsie too.

She revealed: “I said to social services, ‘I’ve got her brother and sister here with me, why can’t I have her?’

“They said, ‘It’s easier to get a baby adopted than it is for older children’.”