The father of two-year-old Isabelle Welsh, who was murdered by her mother Alexandra Walker and her mother's boyfriend Harrison Simpson in Thornaby, Teesside, has said the authorities repeatedly failed to protect his daughter despite multiple warning signs. Joshua Welsh criticised the police, NHS and social services for missing opportunities to intervene before Isabelle's death on 14 September 2025, arguing that better safeguarding action could have saved her life. His comments follow the pair's conviction for murder in July, with Simpson also found guilty of sexually assaulting the toddler.

Isabelle suffered 21 broken bones in the weeks before she died from a "massive head injury". Eleven days before her death, hospital staff at North Tees Hospital raised safeguarding concerns after Walker left Isabelle in pain for two weeks with a fractured leg, but those concerns were reportedly "overruled" by a paediatric team and the child was sent home. It later emerged Simpson had an outstanding arrest warrant issued 18 months before the murder that police failed to act on, something Mr Welsh said he only learned of after the verdict, via his sister hearing it on local radio. Simpson, 22, was jailed with a minimum term of 27 years and 231 days, while Walker, 26, received a minimum of 21 years and 48 days.