Elsie Scully-Hicks: Killer dad 'was suitable to adopt'

A father who murdered his 18-month-old baby was given a "glowing report" on his suitability to adopt her, a judge has found.

Elsie Scully-Hicks died in Cardiff in May 2016 from catastrophic injuries inflicted by Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, of Delabole, Cornwall.

A family court inquiry carried out before his trial found he appeared to be "eminently suitable to adopt".

He was jailed for life and must serve at least 18 years in prison.

When she died, Elsie had injuries experts later compared to a "major trauma such as a car accident".

The court heard they were inflicted by her adoptive father who violently lost his temper as he struggled to cope with caring for her.

Senior family court judge Mr Justice Moor looked at how Elsie died as part of a fact-finding hearing in December 2016, but his findings have only now been published because the criminal case has concluded.

In his report, he concluded Matthew Scully-Hicks was a "Jekyll and Hyde character".

He wrote: "In private, he was quite unable to control himself when Elsie played up. He was able to cope without difficulty when there were others around."

The judge said Matthew Scully-Hicks swore at Elsie "in unacceptable language, including some truly shocking words" and assaulted her.

But he said his husband Craig Scully-Hicks was not to blame, writing he had "come to the clear conclusion that I should exonerate Craig of any failure to protect Elsie".

"There is nothing he could or should have done but I fear he may find that difficult to accept," he wrote.

The judge said there was a striking contrast between Matthew and Craig Scully-Hicks, who he said was "immensely distressed throughout this case".

He wrote: "I accept that different people react in a different way. I further accept that a failure to demonstrate emotion is not an indication of guilt.

"I do find it surprising, however, that he (Matthew) did not show any emotion during his oral evidence to me, apart from one brief occasion, in a case that is fraught with emotion."

Giving evidence during the murder trial, Craig Scully-Hicks said he would not have tolerated any wrongdoing by his husband, if he had suspected it.

In his report, Mr Justice Moor said Craig Scully-Hicks accepted his husband had killed Elsie and the pair are now separated.

Detailing the events which led to Elsie's death, Mr Justice Moor said he had come to "some very clear conclusions" about what had happened.

He said he believed Elsie had been "playing up" and Matthew Scully-Hicks had "lost his temper with her as he had done before when nobody else was present".

The judge said he believed he had picked her up and shook her hard, fracturing her ribs and breaking her leg.

He then threw her to the floor where her head "impacted with something hard causing bruising to her forehead and a fractured skull".

He added: "These injuries resulted in her death.

"I do not have any doubt about this. I am satisfied it was what occurred. There is no other explanation for her injuries."

Mr Justice Moor, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court, said the fact it was a gay adoption was "quite irrelevant", adding he was satisfied Matthew Scully-Hicks had "presented to the world as eminently suitable to adopt".