Our house was filled with love
Husband of man accused of killing their adopted baby says he was a ‘great parent’
THE husband of a fitness instructor accused of killing their adopted daughter broke down in tears yesterday as he described how their home was ‘full of love’.
Craig Scully-Hicks, 36, told a court he never suspected his ‘quiet and mild-mannered’ husband of abusing their adopted daughter Elsie.
Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, is charged with murdering the 18-month- old by shaking her to death. It is alleged he subjected her to seven months of assaults while his husband, a company manager with Remploy, was away at work.
Giving evidence over video, Craig Scully-Hicks said: ‘ My house was full of love and happiness all the time. If I’d suspected anything, I would not have tolerated it.’
He described his husband as a ‘great parent’ and said he was known as ‘safety boy’ by friends and family because he was so safety conscious.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Craig Scully-Hicks had never witnessed his husband shout or swear at their children or physically punish them. He added that his partner had never shown any resentment over his role as a stay-at-home father to Elsie and her adoptive sibling. Jurors had been told that the defendant referred to Elsie as a ‘psycho’ and ‘Satan dressed up in a baby-grow’ in messages to his husband.
He also sent texts to friends in which he told of difficulties looking after Elsie, the court heard.
One read: ‘I’m going through hell with Elsie! Mealtimes and bedtimes are like my worst nightmare. She’s been up there screaming for ten minutes non- stop.’ Neighbour Susan Bevan also said she had heard Matthew Scully-Hicks swearing loudly at a crying baby. The couple took care of Elsie in September 2015 and formal adoption was granted on May 12 last year.
On May 25, Elsie was admitted to hospital with traumatic head injuries consistent with being gripped and violently shaken. She died four days later.
Yesterday Craig Scully-Hicks told how he travelled 100 miles to Cardiff after his husband rang to say Elsie was injured. He said: ‘She was on the operating table. There were just people everywhere and she was just lying on the table. Matt had already told me what happened. He said that she was fine. He had changed her for bed. She was on the floor in the lounge.
‘He took the nappy out to the kitchen and was pottering about. When he went back into the room Elsie was lying on the floor. She looked like she was asleep but she wasn’t.’
Her death followed a series of accidents and injuries, allegedly caused by the accused.
His husband told jurors that Elsie first suffered a fractured leg and a bruised forehead while she was being cared for by the defendant on November 5, 2015.
He added: ‘ I noticed she wouldn’t put her foot down on the floor. Matthew said she had fallen from her activity table.
‘He said she’d cried when she fell. He picked her up and comforted her.’ An X-ray showed Elsie had suffered a small fracture to her ankle and she was fitted with a cast. Craig Scully- Hicks said that a month later he was away again when Elsie suffered a bruise to her head. Jurors were shown a text sent to him by his husband telling him Elsie had fallen a day before a scheduled visit by social workers.
The text said: ‘Honestly, I want to cry. It’s ridiculous. She went to pull herself on a toy kitchen and she whacked the corner of the worktop, right before our review too.’
Craig Scully-Hicks told the court: ‘When I got home I could see the bruise. It was on the left side of her forehead.’ He described Elsie as ‘delicate, but loud and bouncy’ after she moved in with the couple in September 2015.
He said: ‘She settled in fine. She was great. The house became louder. She was good apart from her sleeping. She liked to nap but then get up a few hours later.’
He said her elder adopted sibling had ‘got used to her in the end’ after initially throwing a tantrum when seeing Elsie in bed with her new parents.
Matthew Scully-Hicks denies murder. The trial continues.
‘She looked asleep but she wasn’t’