Why friends of brutal baby killer Matthew Scully-Hicks are raising £10,000 for him after he was jailed for life
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Friends of a man convicting of murdering his baby are raising £10,000 for him in a bid to help him appeal his life sentence.
Matthew Scully-Hicks, a 31-year-old fitness instructor from Delabole, Cornwall was jailed in November for brutally murdering his 18-month-old adoptive daughter Elsie.
The court heard how the defenceless toddler had a catalogue of injuries in the months leading up to her death - including a broken leg, bruising to her head, broken ribs and the final catastrophic fractured skull which led to her death.
Despite Scully-Hicks being found guilty unanimously by the jury, some of his friends have decided they will take action to try and overturn the verdict, reports Cornwall Live.
The Scully-Hicks Innocence Project (SHIProject) was set up earlier this month, dedicated to the release of the man who will have to serve a minimum of 18 years in jail for inflicting serious injuries on Elsie.
The toddler died in May 2016 and Scully-Hicks has always claimed he did not commit the horrific murder.
He first appeared before the Recorder of Cardiff, Judge Eleri Rees, in December 2016 and his trial before Justice Nicola Davies at Cardiff Crown Court took place in November of this year.
During four weeks, the jury heard how a house "filled with love" turned into the scene of fatal anger.
Now, the SHIProject is claiming that Scully-Hicks was "falsely convicted" for Elsie's murder and is working towards the man's chance to appeal.
Hannah Scarr, from the project, grew up with him and attended the same school.
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She said: "The Scully-Hicks Innocence Project was formed after Matthew Scully-Hicks was wrongly convicted on November 6, 2017 of murdering his daughter Elsie.
"The project is founded by local friends and acquaintances of Matthew’s family, who equally feel affected by the injustice that he and his family have been dealt.
"We (SHIProject) feel that there is a great amount of detail of the case and trial that has been misreported, left out completely or misconstrued to portray a monster. In reality everyone who has ever met Matthew have only lovely things to say about him."
During the trial, the jury was told how baby Elsie sustained injuries on different occasions since the moment she moved with Matthew and Craig Scully-Hicks in 2015.
Between November of that year and May 2016 when she died, Elsie suffered a fracture to her right leg, sustained a bruise to the lefthand side of her forehead, another bruise to her head and a squint in her left eye and a lethal skull injury.
Every time it happened, Craig was at work.
Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Davies said: "Elsie was aged just 18 months when you killed her, a young, vulnerable and defenceless child.
"She had been entrusted to the care of yourself and your husband, Craig Scully-Hicks, her adoptive fathers.
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"Shortly before 6.19pm on May 25, 2016, you inflicted injuries of such severity upon Elsie as to cause her immediate collapse and her death on May 29."
"The injuries were sustained when you gripped Elsie around the chest, your fingers were on her back exerting pressure which fractured her ribs.
"The fracture to the skull was caused by an impact with a hard surface. Her collapse would have swiftly followed; that having occurred you called the emergency services.
"I find that aggravating your offending is the fact that your actions on May 25 were not isolated," she added.
"I am satisfied you inflicted injuries upon Elsie in November 2015 which caused the fractures to her leg and in December 2015 the large bruise to her forehead.
"You had, and were aware that you had, a predisposition to injure your adoptive daughter.
"You took no steps to prevent a recurrence of the earlier incidents when Elsie suffered injuries as a result of your actions."
Although Elsie's sudden death was explained by Cardiff Court as caused by her dad's violent anger, the SHIProject claims all happened because of her alleged health issues.
Hannah explained: "In short, Elsie suffered from a serious Vitamin D deficiency, diagnosed by Professor Holick of Boston University, a very well renowned specialist in Vitamin D. It is well documented that children deficient in Vitamin D suffer from bone fractures, dental deformities, impaired growth and even cardiac arrest.
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"Elsie was also born drug dependant as her birth mother used heroin amongst other drugs whilst pregnant. Elsie was also tested and treated for Hepatitis C, a liver disease linked to Vitamin D deficiency.
"Elsie was diagnosed with hydrocephalus - a larger gap between the outside surface of the brain and inside surface of the skull. She was very small for her age, wearing nine-month old clothes, and only had a small amount of deformed teeth. She could not walk at 18 months, but could cling on to furniture for support.
"All this combined meant that what would be a usual knock or fall for a toddler, was catastrophic for Elsie. After her fall down the stairs, she did not receive an MRI scan in hospital, and her injuries went unseen."
During the trial, Scully-Hicks told how he found his daughter not breathing in the couple's Cardiff home on May 25, 2016.
At about 6.20pm that day, Scully-Hicks said he noticed that something was wrong with the little girl. He said he had changed Elsie for bed in the lounge and then went into the kitchen.
"As I went into the room, Elsie was in a similar position on the floor," he explained. "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."
Scully-Hicks indeed phoned 999 and reported to Wales Ambulance Service that Elsie was not awake or breathing.
"I was just changing my daughter for bed and she went all floppy and limp," Scully-Hicks told the operator.
During the 999 call, lasting eight minutes and 22 seconds, Scully-Hicks could be heard saying, "oh my God" and, "this is horrible".
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Paramedics and police who attended the scene found Elsie not breathing and in cardiac arrest.
Scully-Hicks allegedly told paramedic Jonathan Aberg that Elsie had "screamed out as in pain then collapsed".
After hearing all evidence, the jury found unanimously that Matthew Scully-Hicks murdered Elsie Scully-Hicks two weeks after officially adopting her.
Hannah told Cornwall Live: "Matthew was convicted of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), a controversial subject within the justice system.
"There is little evidence to suggest that SBS can be scientifically proven, and many parents have been falsely convicted of SBS, only to be exonerated years later. SBS is based on a triad of symptoms that can also be sustained from accidents and injuries.
"Matthew and his family now have a long road ahead of them to prove his innocence against the media circus surrounding his trial. He did not stand a chance when he was considered guilty by the media on the very first day of the trial.
"This is why we are passionate about this cause. His family have to find both the money and the strength to go through the lengthy process of an appeal. Matthew has lost his whole family, his daughter, his marriage, his home, and now his life.
"The long term aim is to raise as much awareness as possible so that this does not happen to other innocent families. Matthew really did not think he would be found guilty, he thought the jury would see past the theatrics and lack of evidence. He wanted to ensure that this would not happen to anyone else, and this is what inspired us as a community to start a charity in his name."
Hannah and the other two trustees of the SHIProject have now created a crowdfunding page in order to raise £10,000 for Scully-Hicks' appeal.
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So far, it has raised £10 of the whole target.
On its website, it also shared a long text on what allegedly really happened, which is claimed to be written by Scully-Hicks himself.
Hannah said: "Neither Matthew or his family are associated with the Project personally.
"We contacted Matthew regarding his story, and felt it would be better to publish it in his words.
"I have contacted Matthew in writing, and he has responded to me also in writing. It was the first glimmer of hope for him and the family, who are understandably feeling very distressed currently. They feel (as do we) that he has been so misrepresented.
"He has always been a lovely person inside and out. In fact, he had over 70 wonderful character references for his trial, of which only five were read out.
"The appeal is [his family's] only chance to prove Matthew's innocence and show the public that there are indeed two sides to every story.
"We will be updating the site regularly with parts of the trial and case that were misconstrued. It is only fair that the public are given the chance to see the story from both sides."
The text, called In Matthew's Words and posted on Thursday (December 7), reads:
"Elsie joined our family in September 2015 after Craig and myself underwent about nine months of assessment and training for our suitability to adopt a second child. This suitability was put in front of a panel of Council officials, Solicitors, health professionals and Social Workers on two occasions - to be approved as adopters, and then again to be matched with Elsie.
"We had a very special week of introductions based at the foster carers house to meet Elsie, understand her needs and begin to take over parenting. It was all very natural, Elsie took to us and we were smitten with her.
"The move was then approved for Elsie to come home for good. The move went well and it took some time to establish our routine for Elsie.
"As you are probably aware of, the text messages used in the trial were trying to show my lack of a bond with Elsie and a failure to cope. This just isn’t true. Firstly, on inspection of the messages, I had realised that the prosecution had cut sections of my messages out to paint a worse picture. They left out the sections that showed emotion or humour, to leave a cold cross section of a conversation.
"To set the record straight, you only have to ask my family, friends, and even professionals involved with my family to know that the bond I had with [Elsie] was very real.
"The next thing I need to put the record straight on are the neighbours. Not only did I not know these people, I didn’t want to know them. They were noisy and untidy, the dog barked all day when they weren’t home, the daughter would swear at her mother at all hours and scream the house down. The witness at the trial had also been seen in the streets screaming at his mother for everyone to see. But more importantly, if the behaviour described by them was happening for real, then why not report it? A staff nurse from a hospital is concerned about language used towards a child and doesn’t even report it anonymously? That’s because it didn’t happen.
"I’d say our routine with Elsie settled by the end of October, she was sleeping through the night and had started eating some more varied foods. Elsie was subjected to drug and alcohol misuse during pregnancy and there were concerns about her development. She didn’t sit up unaided until nine months. At the age of 18 months she was unable to walk unaided and was still very unbalanced.
"The leg fracture in November was the first concern we had to make a doctors appointment that was not part of Elsie’s regular visits. After a fall in the kitchen, Elsie wasn’t weight bearing fully on her right leg, so I took her to the GP. The GP then sent us to the trauma clinic two days later to have X-rays and a lower body exam. Elsie had no pain, bruises or lumps on her so I was surprised to be told she had a fracture just above her ankle. She had a full cast fitted and was crawling about as usual as soon as we got home.
"Some emphasis has been put on me blaming this fall to cause both this fracture and the fracture that was missed in hospital above the knee, after a radiologist checked the X-rays again. This was not the case, I have never said this had to be the cause of both. it was the only thing of significance that I could remember when asked in May 2016 - Six months later.
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"The other factor here is now what we know of Elsie’s Vitamin D deficiency that Professor Michael Holick has diagnosed.
"The December bruise was from when Elsie bumped her head on the toy kitchen. Again during the trial the prosecution tried to say that I had made it all up, which isn’t true. The health visitor came on December 21 to assess C for [their] learning difficulties. She commented on the bruise saying it looked nasty and I should probably get it checked if I hadn’t already. I replied ‘Okay’ and thought nothing else of it. It was a bruise that hadn’t affected Elsie in any way, so what would the doctor tell me to do apart from to ‘go away’?
"Three social workers saw Elsie on the day after it had happened and they had no concern nor had told us to take Elsie to get it checked.
"All of the medical professionals in their opinion agreed during the case that the explanation was plausible including the health visitor, which is confusing as to why the judge said I caused it.
"The fall downstairs in March, the stair gate at the top of the stairs hadn’t closed properly. Elsie used anything she could around the house to be able to stand. As I already explained, Elsie was very unbalanced right the way up to May 2016, so relied on furniture and objects to lean on.
"The first thing I heard was the gate open. As I looked out of the room all I saw was Elsie falling forward out over the stairs. It was so scary, as I ran after her all I could see was her tumbling down until she hit the ground at the bottom.
"Everything went silent in that split second. I expected a scream or at least a cry, but there was nothing. My first aid training and experience working in a leisure centre has taught me to remain calm, as panicking can make the situation much worse. I called 999 and got connected to the ambulance service. Everything happened (what I thought was) quickly and a bit of a blur. All in all Elsie was sick three times and was on the floor for 24 minutes. I didn’t know how long it all took until I was played the 999 call. 27 minutes it took the ambulance to arrive and they took us to hospital.
"As soon as the ambulance crew arrived I fell apart and started crying. The situation had caught up with me. We arrived at A&E where I called Craig, and he left work to come home. We were seen by the doctor who did a basic assessment and said we needed four hours of observations. Then we were told that Elsie seemed to be okay and we could go home. We weren’t given a leaflet or any advice other than to come back if anything changed.
"I have since seen a copy of the assessment form that shows the section about aftercare. The head injury leaflet wasn’t completed or signed. Also since Elsie passed away I learned that Elsie was one instance of sickness away from having a head scan. One that I believe could have saved her life.
"After the fall, Elsie wasn’t herself. She was achy, tired, clingy towards me and not her usual happy self. This carried on for a few days, but for almost a month after the fall Elsie had periods of sickness. At the time we thought it was linked to her teething, possible food allergies, and bugs. But again, since Elsie’s passing I now know that this could have been a result of a Subdural Haemorrhage from the fall that wasn’t known about. The first time we had counted the periods of sickness was after we left the hospital in May 2016, when asked by Dr John to think of anything of significance that could help.
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"Elsie had a turn in her left eye in April 2016. This was when all the sickness stopped and Elsie seemed to be fully back to her happy self, or so we thought. We discussed the eye turn with social services and also the doctors, who referred us to Ophthalmology. The appointment letter was received in May, with an appointment for September 2016!
"25th May 2016, I have no explanation other than how I found Elsie that night - Unresponsive and staring ahead on the floor. An image that I will be haunted by forever.
"Again, the finer details are a bit of a blur. It all happened in auto pilot. I knew I needed to do CPR to try and save Elsie, and the call to the ambulance took ages to connect. Finally it did and the operator talked me through CPR even though I had already started it. Once the police and ambulance service arrived, they took over and a police officer took me into the playroom. We stayed there until it was time to leave.
"We sat outside in a police van whilst the ambulance crew and doctor worked on Elsie in the ambulance. I was beside myself in shock. I didn’t understand what had happened and I still don't now.
"The first night in hospital was a blur. Doctors trying to ask us questions but also acting very suspiciously and started to use the term ‘non-accidental’ injury. A term I had never heard of before then, and know more than I ever cared to hear about now!
"We found out that Elsie had bleeding on her brain and also in her eyes. This prompted the hospital to start a safeguarding protocol. We were spoken to by the police twice that night and again the following three days. I volunteered my phone to them for them to gather evidence from the 26th, and also signed a consent form for the police to get the 999 calls.
"Meanwhile, the doctors were telling us that it was unlikely that Elsie would survive, and if she did she would be severely brain damaged. It was at this point my whole world fell apart. The hope of Elsie recovering had gone and the realisation that I was about to lose my baby. Devastation and despair don’t even come close to how I felt.
"The Friday night we were able to hold Elsie for the first time and bathe and dress her. We knew the likely outcome and so we invited the family to come and have a picture. We hadn’t told them at the time, but it was a goodbye visit.
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"I had to try and hold back my tears as each of our family members came into the room to see Elsie. Even thinking about it now is tough.
"Saturday 28th May, we arranged for a Baptism for Elsie at the bedside. The staff seemed a little more optimistic that Elsie had made it through another night. The service was short, but the whole family were able to attend and be a part of it.
"That afternoon we had told all of our family to go home and spend some time with their families as it didn’t look like anything was changing. We were wrong. About an hour later we were called back on to the ward as the Doctor needed to speak to us. The news we didn’t want to hear was given to us. It was time to end care and let Elsie go.
"Everything became very real, I didn’t want to leave Elsie from that moment. The staff phoned our families and they all came back to the hospital. We had a section of the ward curtained off and everyone surrounded us.
"We got to bathe and dress Elsie for the final time. I chose a dress I had been saving for a special occasion, one as it turned out wouldn’t happen. We had a final cuddle with Elsie to say our goodbyes, and then the machines were turned off.
"We left the hospital soon after without our baby. A piece of me was missing, a part of me had died. The next morning the police came to advise us that the post mortem was beginning, and they would be back later to update us. The house was quiet and empty.
"Mid June, Craig attended his police interview.
By the Wednesday, Social Services were back saying that the newest medical report suggested the eye injuries were highly suspicious of being a non-accidental injury.
"My house went from being busy and family focused, to empty and deathly quiet. Everything I knew and loved was, piece by piece, being taken away from me.
"We went through months of waiting painfully for the results of the full post mortem.
"Finally in October 2016 the post mortem came in confirming old and new blood on the brain, blood in the eyes, but also new injuries not seen on X-ray or scans in May. There were fractures of her ribs and her skull. The skull fracture was said to be the cause of death.
"More shock and dismay, how is this the first time these things are being found? The expert medical professionals in the family case one by one formed their opinions that this was all consistent with a shaking injury caused just before the time of collapse.
"By November, Craig decided we had to separate. He asked me to leave. I agreed to leave. The next part of my world had been taken away. My husband and my best friend gone. The finger was well and truly being pointed at me.
"I buried myself in research with no other focus other than to try and get what was left of my family back. But to my horror I found a world of cases going back decades where innocent caregivers have had their families taken away and been sent to prison. Because scientists are too scared to speak out against this well oiled machine consisting of Social Services, the police and the ‘Justice’ System.
"In December 2016, the two week fact finding hearing concluded with the judge calling me a ‘Jeckyll and Hyde Character’ that ‘shook my baby on three occasions and hitting her on the head on one occasion.’ The realisation that I was the next of generations of parents to be blamed for an unexpected death had set in.
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"Not even a week after the case had concluded and with no time to process it, the police arrived on 21st December at 7.55am and arrested me for murder.
"I had already voluntarily been interviewed in June for a whole day during investigation, then on the 21st they interviewed me again.
"That night I was charged with murder and held at the station overnight. I attended Magistrates Court on 22nd December, they remanded me to prison until 23rd, and I attended Crown Court.
"All I could think was ‘this is it, how will I have any chance of proving my innocence now?’ All I wanted to do was go home and wake up, it was like a bad dream.
"Thankfully, with the help of my dad I was given bail to my parents house in Cornwall. I was on a tagged curfew and was to report to the local police station three times a week.
"With the trial set for June, my legal team set about working on possible evidence to help my case. With the evidence from the Family Case still available it gave them a lot to consider. We received a couple of reports that said the same as the originals, and two that gave a glimmer of hope. One was the possibility of a genetic condition and one saying the fractures in November could have been the result of a single fall.
"Time was tight and the genetics report came back with just days before the trial in June. We were all set to start the trial and on day one the Judge in the end gave us an adjournment to explore the genetic testing.
"I didn’t know what to think or feel, the whirlwind that had now become my life continued. We also at this time instructed Professor Michael Holick, an expert on Vitamin D and other metabolic bone diseases. In his early career he invented the test for the active form of Vitamin D in the body. The genetic test came back, to my surprise was negative. They could see nothing to pre-dispose Elsie to a condition. At this point we had nothing to challenge the medical evidence, how can I prove my innocence?
"Again, with days to go, we received the report of Professor Holick. Finally something to challenge the evidence, Elsie was Vitamin D deficient and most likely had been for most of her life. Professor Holick confirmed that all of the skeletal injuries are explained by a Vitamin D deficiency
"I finally had proof of something that made sense of some of this awful situation.
"In reality, it didn’t play out how I thought it would.
"The trial began and the prosecution made their opening speech. I felt sick all day having to relive everything again, all the details mixed with fabricated lies to paint a picture of a monster.
"I just wanted the ground to swallow me up, all eyes were on me. Twelve jury members and the public gallery all staring, passing judgement and forming opinion. But no opportunity to tell my version of events, I wanted to stand up and say ‘You’re wrong!’
"Finally the day ended and we left. Cameras in my face became a daily occurrence outside the court room, along with a protester spouting his own agenda and using my daughter’s picture on order to do so.
"As if this wasn’t enough to contend with, the universe decided to throw one more stone at the glass.
"My sister and my nieces had come back to Cardiff for the start of the trial, leaving my brother in law at home in Cornwall. My youngest niece’s partner had taken him for a scan at the Doctors on the morning of the trial as he had been suffering with pain in his bladder. That night he was told her had Cancer in his bladder and his brain.
"My family had another crisis to deal with, and what made it worse was I had to tell my sister and eldest niece the news.
"The next few days were agonising, my sister and nieces had gone back to Cornwall and all I wanted to do was get back to see my brother in law.
"The trial finished early on the Friday so we managed to get on the road and get back to Cornwall. All week I had heard evidence gathered and built by the people out to keep the notion of Shaken baby Syndrome alive.
"The next week and a bit was all pretty much the same, more evidence, all the same. I guess I had become used to hearing it very early on and I don’t think that helped as my reaction was non existent in the dock.
"Then came my turn, my chance to try and set the record straight. My evidence began with my QC covering all topics and all issues from start to finish. This was the first time my emotions overcame me. I had spent so long being scared, shocked, tired and I guess depressed, that in talking about Elsie as a person, my emotions broke.
"I sat in the box answering questions for what felt like an eternity. The prosecution tried to trip me up or get me to change my position at every opportunity. But I stuck to the truth. Finally it was over, I had done all I could to try and prove my innocence.
"Professor Holick’s evidence started well. He told us of his experience and what he found from Elsie’s X-rays and post mortem. But the prosecution tried to discredit everything he said. I hoped that the jury still took note, but I’m not sure it mattered.
"The case concluded and the jury went out. The agonising wait began into a new week, and a lot of sleepless nights in between. The following Monday we were called in at about 12pm. More eyes were on me than ever before. As I stood in the dock awaiting the verdict, I was petrified. The end was in sight. The foreman stood and said the word I was hoping not to hear - ‘Guilty.’ They finally had what they wanted, I had now been branded as a child murderer.
"This is another moment that another piece was taken, and will haunt me forever.
"I fell back into the chair and everything became a haze. That was the end, everything I know and love gone. My chance to prove my innocence failed, and now loneliness.
"It is still very early after what has happened, and a lot is still being processed. But what I do know is that the pain and sadness I am feeling I don’t think will ever go away.
"I did everything I could to care for my child.
"I need help now to prove my innocence as I can't do that from prison, and that is where I am hoping I can rely on the people that knew me and knew Elsie.
"The people that, like me know this doesn’t make sense, and the people who can provide insight or evidence that can help me and other families that have been through a similarly awful experience.
"I have now missed the opportunity to say goodbye to my daughter at her funeral that was held last week, and I don’t want to miss any more of my family for any longer than I have to.
"Anything you think that can help share awareness or anything to help my cause - Please share it.
"There is nothing that can bring Elsie back, but we can change the version of what happened. Elsie wasn’t a victim, she was my much-loved little princess who I miss with all my heart."