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Elsie Scully-Hicks was always smiling, says father accused of her murder Matthew Scully-Hicks says he is 'not to blame' for adoptive daughter's death
(about 3 hours later)
A fitness instructor accused of murdering his adopted daughter sobbed as he told a jury about the toddler’s smile and her love of attention. A fitness instructor accused of murdering his adoptive daughter has insisted he is “not to blame” for her death.
Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, adopted Elsie Scully-Hicks two weeks before she died at University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff. She was found to have bleeding on the brain, retinal haemorrhage in both eyes, a skull fracture and fractures to three ribs and her leg. Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, said he had told the truth about what happened to 18-month-old Elsie before she died in May 2016.
Scully-Hicks, who denies inflicting serious injuries on Elsie, had been looking after the 18-month-old at the home he shared with his husband in Llandaff when she collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest on 25 May 2016. Elsie had been formally adopted by Scully-Hicks and his husband, Craig Scully-Hicks, 36, just two weeks earlier.
Giving evidence in his trial at Cardiff crown court on Wednesday, Scully-Hicks became emotional when asked what Elsie had been like. Scully-Hicks, of Delabole, Cornwall, denies murdering Elsie at the couple’s home in Llandaff, Cardiff, on 29 May.
“She was such a happy little girl, she always had a smile on her face,” he said. “She would always like to make sure that everyone knew she was there. Giving evidence at Cardiff crown court, Scully-Hicks 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.
“She liked the attention, she liked the interaction.” “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.”
Medics managed to revive Elsie after her initial collapse, but her condition worsened and she died in the early hours of 29 May 2016. When asked if he could offer any explanation for her injuries, Scully-Hicks replied: “No.”
Scully-Hicks said he met his husband, Craig Scully-Hicks, 36, while living in Swindon, Wiltshire, in about 2006. 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.”
The pair began a relationship in 2008, moved to Cardiff in late 2010 and early 2011, and were married in Portugal in August 2012, Scully-Hicks said. Paramedics and police arrived at the property at 6.26pm and found Elsie not breathing, with no pulse, in the lounge.
He said they discussed having children early on in their relationship. “We both sat down and talked about our life goals, what we wanted to achieve in the future,” he said. She was taken to the University Hospital of Wales, where she died in the early hours of 29 May.
“We were both of the mind that we wanted children – that was something we were able to agree on very early on.” Tests found evidence of both recent and older bleeding in her brain, and haemorrhages in front of Elsie’s eyes. A postmortem examination revealed she had suffered several broken ribs, a fractured left femur and a fractured skull.
Scully-Hicks said he had not minded whether the couple adopted a boy or girl. “We had requested as young as possible. We wanted to see and witness as much as we could,” he told the jury. The court previously heard Elsie’s injuries were consistent with her being shaken violently, with her head “rocked backwards and forwards”.
“We wanted to be there when they took their first step and wanted to be there when they said their first word – we wanted to see all of that.” Scully-Hicks said Elsie had been healthy and normal on the day of her collapse, 25 May, and walked “hand in hand” with him into the lounge.
Elsie came to live with the couple in September 2015, when she was 10 months old, having been removed from her birth mother, a drug user, within days of being born in November 2014. She was in the care of Vale of Glamorgan council before being placed with them. After being changed for bed, she was left on the floor while Scully-Hicks left the room for “about five minutes”, he said.
Scully-Hicks said they agreed early on that he would be the primary caregiver – a role he wanted to take because he remembered how his mother had been there for him as a child. 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.”
Elsie had fractured her right leg in two places in November 2015 and had bruising to her head in December and January 2016, the court heard. When asked what further tests should be carried out, he replied: “I don’t know.”
On 10 March 2016, she was taken to UHW after falling down the stairs. On the day before her collapse, Elsie had been “jolted” in her car seat as Scully-Hicks adjusted seats in the car, he said. “As I pushed the lever, the seat seemed to jolt forward,” he told the court. “Elsie flinched a little bit. She didn’t like the movement.”
The court previously heard that Elsie’s injuries in May were consistent with her being “shaken violently” and having her head “rocked backwards and forwards so that her head was flexed down on to her chest and flexed backwards”. Dr Stephen Rose, a consultant paediatrician, previously told the jury it was unlikely that could explain her injuries.
Scully-Hicks denies murder. 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.
Neighbours had told the court they heard Scully-Hicks shouting and swearing at Elsie when she cried. When asked about that, he said: “I would not swear at my child, I would not say that to my child.” The couple discussed having children early in their relationship and decided Matthew Scully-Hicks would stay at home to be the primary carer.
In relation to Elsie’s fractured leg, Scully-Hicks said he was in the kitchen on 5 November 2015, with the child standing at an activity table, when he saw her turn to look at him and she fell. After approaching social services, they underwent courses, checks, assessments and regular contact with social workers.
“She was crying, so I picked her up and gave her a cuddle to console her, and I checked her over to see if I could see anything obvious , which I couldn’t,” he said. Scully-Hicks said he had not minded whether the couple adopted a little boy or girl. “We had requested as young as possible, we wanted to see and witness as much as we could,” he told the jury. “We wanted to be there when they took their first step and wanted to be there when they said their first word – we wanted to see all of that.”
“Initially she was upset, but that did not last very long – a minute or two minutes maybe, and then she calmed down and she was fine.” Elsie, who had been removed from her natural mother within days of her birth in November 2014, came to live with the couple in September 2015.
Scully-Hicks told the jury he did not think Elsie was seriously hurt at that stage. A few days later he noticed she was standing but not putting her whole foot on the ground. “She was such a happy little girl, she always had a smile on her face,” Scully-Hicks said. “She would always like to make sure that everyone knew she was there. She liked the attention, she liked the interaction.”
He said he and his husband made a decision that weekend that there was “something not quite right” and he should take her to see a doctor on the Monday. He disputed accounts from neighbours that he would shout and swear at Elsie when she cried. “I would not swear at my child, I would not say that to my child. I wouldn’t have shouted at all,” he told the jury.
Scully-Hicks told the jury that Elsie’s GP examined her, but did not think she was in pain and could not see any deformities. He said the GP decided to be “on the safe side” and booked them an appointment at a trauma clinic on 12 November. Scully-Hicks described Elsie as “Satan dressed up in a babygrow”, a “psycho” and a “diva” in messages to his husband and friends.
The court heard Elsie was found to have fractured her leg above her right ankle and was placed in a full-leg cast, which she wore for three weeks. He said he had texted a friend that Elsie was having a “diva strop” as “a joke” and insisted that it had not been meant seriously. “It was nothing that I couldn’t cope with, nothing that was out of range,” he told the jury.
The images were reviewed after Elsie’s death and two fractures were then found: the lower leg fracture and a second one in Elsie’s right femur, just above the knee. When asked about describing Elsie as “Satan dressed up in a babygrow”, he said: “I wouldn’t have said it in malice.”
The trial continues. In another message, he said, “she pretty much looks and sounds like the exorcist to be fair. We were just having a joke at the time,” he said.
Elsie fractured her right leg in two places in November 2015 and suffered bruises to her head in December 2015 and January 2016, it is alleged.
On 10 March, she was taken to the University Hospital of Wales after falling “head over heels” down a full flight of stairs at home, he said. Scully-Hicks denies causing any injury to Elsie.
He has pleaded not guilty to her murder and the trial continues.