Make him pay with his life
Grandmother of baby Elsie says her killer deserves death penalty
THE grieving grandmother of Elsie Scully-Hicks says the tragic baby’s adoptive father should face the death penalty.
Matthew Scully-Hicks subjected Elsie to seven months of horrific assaults before killing her by shaking her and cracking her skull on a floor or wall.
The 18-month-old died in May last year – just 13 days after she was formally adopted by the 31-year-old fitness instructor and his husband Craig, 36.
Matthew Scully-Hicks was last week jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years – but Elsie’s biological grandmother said he should pay for the crime with his life.
Sian O’Brien, who calls Elsie by her birth name Shayla, said: ‘It’s about justice for Shayla. I think he has got off quite lightly.’
Asked if Scully-Hicks deserved the death penalty, she said: ‘He should have.’
Mrs O’Brien, 51, who has adopted Elsie’s older brother and sister, also spoke of her devastation at being denied the chance to look after her granddaughter, who was placed in the care of Vale of Glamorgan Council at five days old.
She had battled for legal guardianship of Elsie, born to drug addict Gemma O’Brien in November 2014, but it was decided that she would not be ‘able to cope’.
Mrs O’Brien told The Sun: ‘I said to social services, “I’ve got Shayla’s brother and sister here with me, why can’t I have Shayla?”
‘They said, “It’s easier to get a baby adopted than it is for older children”.’
The case raises serious questions about why social workers rejected Mrs O’Brien’s application to become Elsie’s legal guardian when she was already looking after the baby’s siblings.
Mrs O’Brien is asking people to sign a Facebook petition calling for the Government to hold an investigation into adoption and fostering. The petition accuses the Government of forcing adoptions to meet targets, and claims social workers act without reasonable warning.
Mrs O’Brien also said the family may launch legal action against social services for missing a catalogue of injuries to Elsie during 15 visits before her death. Medical staff failed to spot the significance of a string of injuries which could have alerted them to the abuse – including a second fracture to her leg and bruising to her head.
A disgruntled social worker said that a letter outlining the council’s alleged failings was sent to the director of social services, Phil Evans, just three weeks before Elsie’s death.
The letter, which claimed the department was compromising the safety of children on the child protection register, concluded: ‘The resulting practice is inefficient, costly, unprofessional and dangerous to service users and to social workers.’
Mr Evans retired this summer.