This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-41564798

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Elsie Scully-Hicks: Father 'would not have tolerated' violence Elsie Scully-Hicks: Murder accused was 'struggling to cope'
(about 2 hours later)
A man whose husband is accused of murdering their adopted daughter said he would not have tolerated any violence if he had known of it. A man accused of murdering his adopted daughter referred to her as "a psycho" and "Satan", a court heard.
Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, is accused of abusing 18-month-old Elsie over several months and causing "catastrophic" injuries before she died in May 2016.Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, is accused of abusing 18-month-old Elsie over several months and causing "catastrophic" injuries before she died in May 2016.
Craig Scully-Hicks told Cardiff Crown Court his house had been "filled with love and happiness, all the time". But his husband, Craig Scully-Hicks, told Cardiff Crown Court his house had been "filled with love and happiness, all the time".
Matthew Scully-Hicks, of Delabole, Cornwall, denies murder.Matthew Scully-Hicks, of Delabole, Cornwall, denies murder.
Speaking via video link, Craig Scully-Hicks recalled the phone call he received on 25 May 2016 in which his husband Matthew told him their baby had been injured at their Cardiff home. The court heard police found messages from the defendant to his husband saying he was "struggling to cope" with caring for their adopted children.
When asked how his husband was on the phone, Mr Scully-Hicks replied: "Upset. Crying. Elsie was really poorly. He'd had to give her CPR and she was in an ambulance." In one, he described Elsie as "Satan in a babygro", saying she was "having a proper diva strop" and describing her as a "psycho".
He said he immediately drove from Leicester where he was working to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. However, defence barrister Robert O'Sullivan said Matthew Scully-Hicks was known as "safety boy" because of his safety conscious and careful nature.
He became emotional when recalling seeing his daughter in hospital, saying: "She was on the operating table. I ran straight into the operating room. There were people everywhere and she was just lying on the table... the doctor said there was a problem with her heart and people are working on her." His husband also described him as a "quiet and mild mannered person" who he had never seen shout at or appear angry with their children.
He said Matthew Scully-Hicks had told him he returned to the living room after taking a nappy to the kitchen. The court heard they had moved to Cardiff in 2011 and faced a year of checks before adopting Elsie.
"He said she was lying on the floor and looked like she was asleep. She wasn't. He checked her airways, called an ambulance and started CPR," he added. She was born in November 2014 and went to live with the couple in 2015, with them being visited by social workers every fortnight.
Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC told the court "doctors determined she could not be saved" and her ventilator was switched off. She died in the early hours of 29 May, two weeks after being formally adopted. It was agreed the defendant would give up his job to care for the children, with his husband continuing to work - which kept him away from home three days a week.
Giving evidence by video link, Craig Scully-Hicks said: "She was great. The house became louder. She was good apart from her sleeping.
"She liked to nap but she liked to get up again a couple of hours later."
The jury was told neighbours had allegedly heard Matthew Scully-Hicks swearing at Elsie, telling her to "shut up", but his husband said he had never heard such language.
In September 2015, Elsie suffered a fracture to her right leg and bruises on her forehead in December 2015 and January 2016.
"She was always bumping and falling over at that stage," Craig Scully-Hicks told the jury.
On 10 March 2016, he received a call to say Elsie had fallen down the stairs, but despite being put under observation for four hours was allowed home from hospital.
"If my daughter's head had been scanned that day I wonder whether we would be here today," he told the jury.
"She didn't want to be put down, she just wanted to be on our laps constantly. She didn't want to play with her toys, she just wanted to be cuddled.
"It was like she lost confidence. I'm not sure she ever regained her confidence."
On 25 May, Craig Scully-Hicks said he received a phone call to say Elsie was "really poorly" and rushed from Leicester, where he was working, to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
'Love and happiness'
He became emotional when recalling seeing his daughter in hospital, saying: "She was on the operating table. I ran straight into the operating room.
"There were people everywhere and she was just lying on the table... the doctor said there was a problem with her heart and people are working on her."
Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC told the court "doctors determined she could not be saved" and her ventilator was switched off.
She died in the early hours of 29 May, two weeks after being formally adopted.
On Monday, the court heard she had suffered haemorrhages to her brain while post-mortem examinations discovered she had also suffered broken ribs, a fractured left femur and a fractured skull.On Monday, the court heard she had suffered haemorrhages to her brain while post-mortem examinations discovered she had also suffered broken ribs, a fractured left femur and a fractured skull.
Matthew Scully-Hicks is accused of causing the brain damage by violently shaking Elsie.Matthew Scully-Hicks is accused of causing the brain damage by violently shaking Elsie.
'Daddy's little princess' Craig Scully-Hicks said: "Let me be clear. My house was filled with love and happiness, all of the time.
Craig Scully-Hicks said he was also not present at the couple's home in Fairwater, Cardiff, when any of the previous incidents had happened.
He told the court: "Let me be clear. My house was filled with love and happiness, all of the time.
"If I had suspected anything I wouldn't have tolerated it.""If I had suspected anything I wouldn't have tolerated it."
When asked over his preference to adopt a boy or girl, he said: "I just wanted a daddy's little princess really."
He said they had decided Matthew Scully-Hicks would stay at home and look after the children: "He wouldn't have had if any other way," he said.
In the months leading up to her death, Elsie suffered a fractured leg after falling in the kitchen and a fall down stairs, needing hospital treatment for both.
Mr Scully-Hicks said of the stair fall the defendant had told him he had been folding washing in their bedroom when Elsie had come out of her bedroom and climbed over the stair gate before falling.
Elsie was discharged from hospital the same day and not given any follow-up treatment.
Asked if he noticed any difference in Elsie after the fall, Mr Scully-Hicks told the court: "She was just generally very sore and achy, it lasted a couple of weeks. She didn't want to be put down, didn't want to play with her toys, it was like she lost confidence. I'm not sure she ever regained her confidence."
The trial continues.The trial continues.