Baby Elsie killed by blunt head injury, court told

AN 18-month-old girl allegedly murdered by her adoptive father died as a result of blunt head injury and a fractured skull, a pathologist has said.

Elsie Scully-Hicks was formally adopted by Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, and his husband, Craig Scully-Hicks, 36, two weeks before she died in May 2016.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, from Delabole, Cornwall, is accused of inflicting serious injuries on the toddler at the couple’s home in Llandaff, Cardiff, on May 25. He denies murder.

Yesterday, the part-time fitness instructor’s trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard that Elsie was rushed to the University Hospital of Wales after Scully-Hicks dialled 999, reporting Elsie was unresponsive at around 6.20pm. She died in the early hours of May 29.

Pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbeatter carried out the post-mortem examination and said he concluded Elsie died from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain following cardiac arrest “in a child with acute and chronic subdural haemorrhage”, or bleeding on the brain.

Dr Leadbeatter said the cardiac arrest was caused by a blunt head injury including a fracture of the right lambdoid suture – a join in the skull bones.

Examination of Elsie’s ribs revealed evidence Dr Leadbeatter said was “suggestive of a healing microfracture”.

He said there were no external injuries apart from a small fading bruise above Elsie’s left eye.

Dr Leadbeatter said he had not heard of any explanation given by Scully-Hicks which would explain how Elsie’s skull was fractured and why there was bleeding in her eyes.

Consultant paediatric radiologist Dr Sarah Harrison was asked to look at X-rays of Elsie’s chest and abdomen after she was hospitalised on May 25 and examined a full skeletal survey carried out after she died.

She told the jury the survey was X-rays of all the bones in the body and showed “no abnormality to support evidence of any underlying bone disease that would make her (Elsie) more likely to suffer a fracture than the next child and there was no evidence of fracture either”.

Dr Harrison said she noticed a “small line” on an X-ray of Elsie’s skull which she believed was an accessory suture – a normal variation in the pattern of joins between skull bones.

Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC said two pathologists including Dr Leadbeatter had since examined Elsie’s skull and they did find a fracture.

Mr Lewis asked if Dr Harrison was surprised she had not seen it on the X-ray. “No, I am not surprised,” said Dr Harrison. “The thing we were looking at was very small and it is difficult to be 100% certain of things when they are quite small.”

Scully-Hicks denies murder and the trial continues.