“THEY’LL GET OUT — ISABELLE WON’T”: HEARTBROKEN DAD DEMANDS FULL LIFE TERMS FOR HIS DAUGHTER’S KILLERS
“THEY’LL GET OUT — ISABELLE WON’T”: HEARTBROKEN DAD DEMANDS FULL LIFE TERMS FOR HIS DAUGHTER’S KILLERS
“They’ll get out. Isabelle won’t.”
Those heartbreaking words from Joshua Welsh capture the anger and grief he says he has been left with after the people convicted of murdering his two-year-old daughter were sentenced to life in prison.
Isabelle’s mother, Alexandra Walker, and her partner, Harrison Simpson, were convicted following a five-week trial at Teesside Crown Court.
Both received life sentences.
But for Joshua, the punishment still does not feel like justice.
“THE SENTENCE WAS SHOCKING”
Simpson received a minimum term of 27 years and 231 days, while Walker was given a minimum term of 21 years and 48 days.
Joshua says his initial relief after hearing the guilty verdicts quickly disappeared when he learned how long the pair could eventually remain behind bars.
He believes both should receive a whole-life order, meaning they would spend the remainder of their lives in prison.
His reasoning is painfully simple:
Isabelle will never get another birthday.
A TWO-YEAR-OLD LEFT WITH A LIFETIME OF QUESTIONS
The court heard that Isabelle suffered repeated injuries during the weeks before her death.
She had sustained fractures to 21 bones, as well as other serious injuries, before suffering the catastrophic head injury that ultimately ended her life.
Simpson was convicted of murder, sexual assault by penetration and child cruelty.
Walker was convicted of murder and child cruelty.
The judge described the abuse Isabelle endured as “sadistic.”
“I THOUGHT SHE WAS BEING LOOKED AFTER”
Joshua says he believed his daughter was safe in her mother’s care.
He says he had no idea Simpson was involved in Isabelle’s life until the investigation into her death.
That realization has become another source of pain for the grieving father.
He now says he wants to use his daughter’s story to raise awareness about child protection and encourage people to take concerns seriously.
QUESTIONS ABOUT A MISSED ARREST WARRANT
Joshua has also criticized police over an outstanding arrest warrant involving Simpson.
According to Cleveland Police, multiple inquiries and attempts were made to locate him, but those efforts were unsuccessful. The force later acknowledged that the length of time the warrant remained outstanding was inadequate and said it has since strengthened its systems for tracking outstanding warrants.
For Joshua, that raises an agonizing question:
Could Isabelle have been protected if different decisions had been made earlier?
That is something he says he intends to keep asking.
“I NEED TO BE HER VOICE”
Joshua says his daughter should be remembered for who she was — a happy, loving little girl whose smile could light up a room.
He does not want Isabelle’s story to be remembered only through the circumstances of her final days.
Instead, he wants her name to become a reminder that vulnerable children need adults willing to speak up for them.
Isabelle was only two years old.
Her father now says he will spend the rest of his life fighting for the justice he believes she deserves.
