Toddler murder accused: ‘I did not cause her injuries’

A FITNESS instructor accused of murdering his adopted daughter has insisted he is “not to blame” for her death.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, said he had told the truth about what happened to 18-month-old Elsie before she died in May 2016.

Elsie had been formally adopted by Scully-Hicks and his husband, Craig Scully-Hicks, 36, just two weeks earlier.

Scully-Hicks, of Delabole, Cornwall, denies murdering Elsie at the couple’s home in Llandaff, Cardiff, on May 29.

Giving evidence at Cardiff Crown Court, ScullyHicks said he had changed Elsie for bed in the lounge then went into the kitchen.

“As I went into the room, Elsie was in a similar position on the floor,” he told the jury.

“I thought she was asleep or watching the telly. As I got closer she didn’t acknowledge me coming in the room, which for her was strange.

“I got a little closer again and then called her. There was no response. I got closer and gave her a gentle tap and there was no response at all.

“I phoned for the ambulance.”

When asked if he could offer any explanation for her injuries, Scully-Hicks replied: “No.”

He also answered “no” when asked if he had caused her injuries, and insisted he had told the truth about what had happened.

“I am not to blame,” he said. “I didn’t cause those injuries.”

Paramedics and police arrived at the property at 6.26pm and found Elsie not breathing, with no pulse, in the lounge.

She was taken to the University Hospital of Wales, where she died in the early hours of May 29.

Tests found evidence of both recent and older bleeding in her brain, and haemorrhages in front of Elsie’s eyes.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had suffered several broken ribs, a fractured left femur and a fractured skull.

The court previously heard Elsie’s injuries were consistent with her being shaken violently, with her head “rocked backwards and forwards”.

Scully-Hicks said Elsie had been healthy and normal on the day of her collapse, May 25, and walked “hand in hand” with him into the lounge.

After being changed for bed, she was left on the floor while Scully-Hicks left the room for “about five minutes”, he said.

When asked whether he accepted the injuries that experts found Elsie had sustained, he replied “yes”.

“I’m not disputing it, I just don’t think it’s everything,” he told the court.

“The injuries don’t make sense to me but I’ve given the account of what happened that day.”

When asked what further tests should be carried out, he replied: “I don’t know.”

Scully-Hicks met his husband while living in Swindon, Wiltshire, in about 2006. They became a couple in 2008 and moved to Cardiff a few years later, before marrying in Portugal in August 2012. The couple discussed having children early in their relationship and decided Scully-Hicks would stay at home to be the primary carer. ScullyHicks said he had not minded whether the couple adopted a little boy or girl.

Scully-Hicks denies causing any injury to Elsie. He has pleaded not guilty to her murder and the trial continues.