TRAGIC ELSIE: ‘A FABULOUS LITTLE GIRL WITH A BIG SMILE’
Elsie Scully-Hicks was only 18 months old when she died but was already a “fabulous” little girl with a big smile and personality.
She was born on November 17, 2014, and was taken into care by the Vale of Glamorgan Council a few days later.
Her birth mother used drugs throughout the pregnancy but Elsie was born healthy, of average weight and size.
It was initially feared Elsie may have contracted Hepatitis C from her mother and she underwent months of tests but was eventually found to be infection-free.
She was looked after by foster carers until her placement for adoption with Matthew and Craig Scully-Hicks at their home in Cardiff on September 10, 2015. “She was tiny,” Craig Scully-Hicks said. “I think we started the process of solid food with her. She had only just started sitting up unaided when we met her. She didn’t start teething until she was 18 months old.”
Craig Scully-Hicks described how he had hoped to adopt a “Daddy’s little princess” and said Elsie was “great” apart from sleeping and mealtimes.
Elsie was physically tiny and delicate but had a “brash and bouncy” personality, he told Cardiff Crown Court.
“She didn’t walk, not due to a lack of trying on our part,” Craig Scully-Hicks said.
“It was like she was petrified or in pain every time we tried to get her to walk.
“Matt and I would sit on the floor with our feet together and encourage her to walk back and forward, trying to build her confidence up. She used to go rigid, as if she was petrified to do it. It was like she had no confidence or it caused her pain to walk.”
He insisted he never saw the defendant losing his temper with Elsie.
Health visitor Jodie Golten described Elsie as “a very happy, smiley child”.
“She was loving life, she was lovely – smiles all round,” Mrs Golten said.
Giving evidence, Matthew Scully-Hicks said Elsie was “more vocal” about what she wanted than other children and “loved attention”.
“She was such a lovely little girl,” he said. “She always had a smile on her face. She would also like to make sure that everyone knew she was there. She liked the attention, she liked the interaction.”
But in text messages, he described Elsie as “Satan dressed up in a baby grow” and “a diva” and said: “She gets so wound up when she doesn’t get her own way it’s unbelievable!”
By the time of her death, Elsie was 2ft 6in tall and weighed 22lb (10kg). She was behind on some of her developmental milestones, such as walking, but was otherwise healthy. On May 12, 2016 – two weeks before her death – she was formally adopted by Craig and Matthew Scully-Hicks.
Matthew Scully-Hicks took her shopping for an outfit to wear at a party with family and friends to celebrate her adoption on May 25 – hours before she suffered fatal injuries. He sent pictures of outfits, at Marks & Spencer, to his husband and bought one for Elsie to wear.