Child death injuries ‘very likely’ deliberate

A 32 year-old man and 24 year-old woman have been remanded in custody on charges relating to the death of two year-old Ali Jayden Doyle in Dungannon on Friday August 6.

Darren Armstrong (32) and Jade Dempsey (26) spoke only to confirm that they understood the charges against them when they appeared via videolink from Musgrave Police Station in Belfast.

Darren John Armstrong (32) of Ashbeg Grove, Dungannon, is charged on August 6 with murdering Ali Jayden Doyle and with perverting the course of justice  between August 6 and August 9.

Jade Dempsey (26) of Sycamore Drive, Dungannon, is charged with perverting the course of justice between August 6 and August 9 and with permitting or causing the death of a child.

A PSNI officer said that he could connect the two to the charges.

He said that the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service received a call at 11.06am on Friday August 6 to attend Park Avenue in Dungannon in relation to reports of a child who was unconscious.

On arrival, the child was unresponsive to pain and was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where she died shortly after arriving.

The account given by the suspects was that the two year-old’s one year-old brother had hit her with a toy on the head and that she had fallen against the hearth.

The court heard that the two children had been placed on the Child Protection Order in April this year due to the fact that Miss Dempsey was in a relationship with Armstrong. He was to have no access supervised or unsupervised with the children.

The officer said Armstrong was arrested for the murder of Ali Jayden Doyle.

Miss Dempsey said that she had arrived at the house to return a bank card to Armstrong. One of the children had lost its dummy and she had retraced the steps in order to pacify them. The children were left with Mr Armstrong.

While doing this she received a call to say that the two year-old was hurt and by the time of her return to the house paramedics were already on site.

Police investigations have established that arrangements had previously been made for Dempsey to travel to Belfast to purchase a buggy and that she had arranged to leave the children with Armstrong.

The court heard of a number of text exchanges between the two on Friday morning, including one video at 10.45am showing the two year-old alert, sitting up and watching television.

In another message a few minutes later, Armstrong sent a subsequent message saying that the child was ‘melting his head, crying for absolutely no reason.’

Just four minutes later, the court heard that another message was sent informing Dempsey that the ‘child was injured.’

A post mortem examination was carried out which stated that it was more likely that the injuries sustained were non-accidental than accidental. The pathologist was also reported to have stated that the injuries were so extensive as to make it impossible to say how many times the head had been impacted.

Defence solicitor, Michael Fahy, of Patrick Fahy Solicitors, Omagh, who was acting for Armstrong, said his client had given a full account of what happened and had carried out the instructions of the Ambulance Service prior to the arrival at the scene of paramedics.

Solicitor, Darren Strawbridge, acting for Dempsey, said she was a victim in the case and a ‘young grieving mother.’

District Judge, Bernie Kelly, said she did not consider either defendant a suitable candidate for bail. She said Dempsey was an actual flight risk and that Armstrong had a litany of entries on his record for breach of court orders and she entertained no confidence that he would adhere to any bail conditions which would be imposed.

The two were remanded in custody to appear again in court on September 1.