Man found guilty of baby’s murder

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, of Delabole, Cornwall, had denied inflicting catastrophic injuried on 18-month-old baby Elsie in his Cardiff home

Scully-Hicks called 999 on 25 May 2016 claiming he had found her unresponsive on the floor. She died four days later.

She had a bleed on the brain, a skull fracture, retinal bleeding in both of her eyes and damaged ribs.

A pathologist said the baby’s injuries were ‘very typical’ of babies who have been shaken.

In the eight months Elsie lived with Scully-Hicks and his husband, she sustained a number of injuries, which the prosecution suggested amounted to "assault and abuse".

Prosecuting barrister Paul Lewis told the court: "We allege that his actions on the late afternoon or evening of 25 May were the tragic culmination of a course of violent conduct on his part towards a defenceless child - an infant that he should have loved and protected, but whom he instead assaulted, abused and ultimately murdered."

Pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbetter told the trial Elsie's injuries were consistent with "shaking impact syndrome".

He said she died after suffering a "blunt head injury", which triggered a cardiac arrest and starved her organs of blood.

In a series of text messages, Scully-Hicks referred to her as “satan” and  “psycho”. He told his husband he was struggling to cope with caring for their adopted daughter.

Matthew Scully-Hicks complained about Elsie to his husband

He compared the child to 'satan'

He wrote: "I'm going through hell with Elsie. Mealtimes and bedtimes are like my worst nightmare at the minute. She has been up there screaming for 10 minutes non-stop".

Matthew Scully-Hick's husband, Craig, told the court the couple's home was filled with nothing but love and affection.

He said that had he suspected anything was wrong, he would have intervened.