A toddler was murdered by her adoptive father under the noses of social workers and doctors who refused to accept he was anything other than a 'positive parent', a damning report revealed today.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, from Cardiff, subjected 18-month-old Elsie Scully-Hicks to months of horrific assaults before killing her in an attack so severe her tiny body looked like it had been in a 'car crash'.

Scully-Hicks, who was married to husband Craig, was visited 15 times by at least three social workers and he made numerous visits to the GP and A&E when he injured Elsie - but there was 'no concern' about his parenting.

Professionals viewed him through a 'positive lens' and insisted her adoption to the middle class and well-educated gay couple was going well until she died, a Child Practice Review said.

Today Vale of Glamorgan Council social services chief Lance Carver apologised to Elsie's natural family - who believe she would still be alive today if still in their care.

But Mr Carver also admitted no social workers had been disciplined or sacked over the mistakes because it was 'not appropriate'.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, from Cardiff, was able to subject 18-month-old Elsie Scully-Hicks to months of horrific assaults despite 15 visits from the authorities in that time and then murdered her

Yet an official review into her death was published today and said social workers and doctors of lacked 'professional curiosity' about Elsie's injuries.

The toddler suffered a broken leg, mystery bruising including one one her head that lasted for eight weeks and was even taken to hospital vomiting blood.

But each time the injuries were written off as common accidents or illnesses after her 'articulate' attacker made up excused.

On May 29 2016 Elsie died, four days after her adoptive father shook her so violently her brain and eyes started bleeding before he threw her her headfirst into the floor, fracturing her skull.

Scully-Hicks was jailed for a minimum of 18 years after a trial last year but Elsie's biological grandmother Sian O'Brien said he 'got off lightly' and her granddaughter should have stayed with her.

Today the NSPCC said: 'This was a needless and violent crime which took the life of a defenceless young toddler.

'Elsie suffered horrendous physical abuse at the hands of a man who should have protected her and who was viewed by authorities as a positive parent.

'This review is disturbingly clear that opportunities were missed and information was not shared appropriately'.

Lance Carver, director of social services at the Vale of Glamorgan Council, accepted the findings of today's report and apologised for errors in Elsie's case.

'The findings do indicate that social workers and staff from all agencies saw the adoption as very positive,' Mr Carver told a press conference in Cardiff.

'They perceived the adoptive family as a really positive solution for Elsie. The report identifies issues that 'that positive lens' meant that they were not looking in the way they should have been.

'That's something as an organisation that we should have recognised and taken that fully on board.'

12 medical experts and six doctors who were able to outline her injuries inflicted in the months before she was murdered

Mr Carver said no disciplinary actions had been taken against any members of staff as the report did not 'indicate that it would be appropriate'.

Scully-Hicks and his husband Craig were viewed as 'very positive parents' for little Elsie after she was taken away from her drug addict natural mother.

But as soon as she moved in her killer started secretly attacking her, branded her 'Satan in a babygro' and the 'exorcist' and heard calling her a 'silly little c***' inside their home in Llandaff.

Eight months after entering his care, and two weeks after being officially adopted by Scully Hicks and his husband, Elsie was murdered.

On May 25 2016 her adoptive father gripped her around the ribs and shook her so violently started bleeding behind the eyes and in two areas of the brain.

She also fractured her skull when her head hit the floor when she was slammed to the ground.

Little Elsie failed to recover from her ordeal and died in hospital on May 29.

It still took a month for her killer to be interviewed by police, on June 27, after the authorities noticed all the suspicious injuries she had suffered since she broke her leg on November 5 2015.

Six months after that police interview he was arrested on suspicion Elsie's murder and convicted in November 2017, almost two years to the day after he is first believed to have attacked her.

Scully-Hicks, who sobbed when he was convicted, denied murdering her but was today found guilty by a jury after a four week trial and jailed for a minimum of 18 years.

Matthew Scully-Hicks previously claimed Elsie had fallen down these stairs and hurt herself in the months before her death and it was written off as an accident

Scully-Hicks said the baby gate (pictured) had just opened and that she had tumbled down the stairs

Elsie's adoption was overseen by the Vale of Glamorgan Council - and senior figures have been quizzed over their handling of Scully-Hicks case.

Today's Child Practice Review it was a 'tragic and untimely death of a child' who had been involved with social services since being born to a drug-using mother.

Two Social Services executives retired in the months after Elsie's tragic death Director of social services Phil Evans retired last summer, just before Scully-Hicks's murder trial began Two top social services executives in the Welsh county in which Elsie was killed retired in the mouths after the toddler's tragic death. The team in Vale of Glamorgan missed several chances to save Elsie from her abusive adoptive father, Matthew Scully-Hicks. Hilary Southam, care leader at the Vale of Glamorgan social services, retired just three months after Elsie was murdered in May 2016. The 61-year-old has since worked for the council as an emergency duty social worker on a freelance basis. When approached about Scully-Hicks's trial outside her Barry, South Wales, home she said: 'I'm retired. I don't want to talk about it.' Her former colleague, director of social services Phil Evans retired last summer, just before Scully-Hicks's murder trial began at Cardiff crown court. Mr Evans's wife told reporters at the time: 'He is no longer at the Vale of Glamorgan council so it's not really his issue.' Advertisement

But it said that the officials handling her adoption could not have predicted that she would be murdered by Scully-Hicks.

It said: 'There was no information during the assessment stages of the parents that could or would have predicted what happened to this child.

'The assessment of them as adoptive parents was strong and robust and was compliant with good practice standards.'

It said Scully-Hicks and his partner were 'perceived to be very positive parents for this child.'

The report said: 'Given how strongly this view was held, the injuries that the child sustained were never considered as anything other than childhood accidents.

'Adoption is a positive outcome for almost every child. It is extremely rare for any child placed for adoption to be harmed by their parents.

'The parents, their extended family nor any of the professionals working with the child had recognised any concerns regarding possible harm.

'There were no reports to children's services of any such concern. As a result there is a lackof professional curiosity regardinn the child's experiences and injuries.'

But it revealed how little Elsie was seen many times by social workers and adoption officers in her short life.

It said: 'The child was not invisible to agencies at any time.

'The parents did not indicate at any stage that they were struggling to care for this child and did not require any additional support services.

'It is evident that during the child's placement with the parents the child was seen on many occasions by several professionals within the agencies.'

It hit out at errors by not flagging up injuries suffered by Elsie before her death.

The report states: 'The ommission of identifying the second fracture to the child's upper leg on the X-ray was a missed opportunity to raised safeguarding concerns and instigate child protection procedures.

'The observations and recording of the large bruise to the child's forehead both by children's services and health was absent.

'This resulted in the large bruise becoming 'invisible' to professionasl and did not form part of building an overal picture of what was happenign to the child before the final report to the court prior to the adoption order hearing being made.

'There is always learning to be gained and this case is no different.

'Some new information and the learning from it has been gained from other proceedings primarily through the criminal trial. The conclusion is that there are some systems and practices that should be improved.'

When he was jailed Scully-Hicks looked on emotionless as Judge Mrs Justice Nicola Davies told him he had been 'entrusted to protect and care' for Elsie - but instead murdered her.

In January 2015 Scully-Hicks and his husband Craig were visited by a adoption manager after expressing a desire to become fathers.

Elsie was first put in the care of Scully-Hicks in September 2015 and the process was finalised nearly eight months later.

Between the meeting and her death, social workers visited their home 15 times and the toddler suffered bruises on her head, face and body, had broken her leg and had fallen down the stairs at the house.

Over the next seven months she also had mystery bruises on her head and was rushed to hospital in March last year after allegedly falling down the stairs.

Social workers and health visitors noted various injuries to Elsie's body including bruises to her head and a broken ankle.

Elsie was even rushed to hospital after vomiting blood - but Scully-Hicks claimed she had fallen down the stairs.

Social workers visited the couple 15 times Matthew Scully-Hicks and his husband were seen on 15 occasions before her death January 9 2015 - Initial visit by adoption manager Bethan James February 20 - Initial visit by Laura Neal, social worker, with the couple for assessment as potential adopters March 9, 20 and 30 - Further visits by Laura Neal to assess the Scully-Hicks April 13 - Further assessment visit by Laura Neal July 30 - Laura Neal and Mark Lloyd-Selby, Elsie's social worker, visit the Scully-Hicks September 10 - Elsie moves in September 17 and 28 - Elsie observed during social work visits to the Scully-Hicks' home by Hillary Southam and Laura Neal September 29 - Adoption review at the house with social workers and independent reviewing officer Erol Bowers December 2 - Visit by social worker Cheryl Longley January 26 - Social worker visit with Cheryl Longley February 26 - Social worker visit with Cheryl Longley March 14 - Social worker visit with Cheryl Longley April 29 - Social worker visit by Laura Neal May 12 - Couple adopt Elsie May 29 - Toddler is murdered Advertisement

But officials didn't raise any concerns which would have stopped the adoption process and potentially saved Elsie.

Social workers missed bruise on Elsie's head - even though it was there for eight weeks Scully-Hicks had presented himself as a loving and doting father but he inflicted injury after injury on Elsie before he killed her In December 2015, Elsie suffered a large bruise to her forehead that lasted for eight weeks. Two social workers and an independent reviewing officer from the Vale of Glamorgan Council saw the bruise during an adoption review at the Scully-Hicks's home. They failed to make any note of the bruise and it was not brought to the attention of the adoption court, along with concerns that Elsie was developing a squint. Social services chief Lance Carver said: 'It is difficult to second-guess what would have happened if that had been recorded properly. It clearly wasn't recorded properly and that is inadequate. 'I would like to be clear that on behalf of the Vale I apologise for that. It should have been recorded properly. 'We have looked to see what improvements we can make in order to ensure that this recording is done properly in the future. 'We are going to ensure that the recommendations of this report are fully implemented.' The report revealed that no safeguarding concerns were raised despite Elsie suffering a number of injuries during her time with Scully-Hicks. Her parents were seen as a 'well-educated and articulate couple' who were 'very well regarded by each of the agencies as good parents who had already successfully adopted'. In November 2015, Elsie was referred to an orthopaedics outpatient clinic after suffering an injury to her leg and not weight-bearing for five days. An X-ray was taken but this was not examined by a specialist paediatric radiologist. A registrar spotted a lower leg fracture but not an upper leg fracture. 'Had both fractures been recognised on the x-ray, this would have raised safeguarding concerns that would have instigated the child protection process,' the report noted. 'This review indicated that it would be highly unusual for two separate bones to be broken from one minor fall.' Advertisement

Neighbour Susan Bevan, who lived in the joining semi-detached house to the couple, said things changed when Elsie moved in.

Cardiff Crown Court heard stay-at-home husband Scully-Hicks branded her 'a psycho', 'the exorcist' and 'Satan dressed up in a Babygro' in text messages.

Mr Lewis said: 'On one occasion she heard a little girl crying and 'the one who stayed at home' having a rant and shouting 'shut up, shut up, shut the f*** up.''

Mrs Bevan's adult son, James, also heard Matthew Scully-Hicks shouting 'shut up you little f***ing brat' and 'shut up you silly little c***.'

On the day of Elsie suffered fatal injuries, Scully-Hicks took her shopping for an outfit for her to wear at a party to celebrate her adoption at a party planned with family and friends.

He sent pictures of outfits at Marks & Spencer to his husband and purchased one for Elsie to wear.

But instead he shook her and then threw her to the ground, leaving his daughter fatally injured.

The court heard the youngster suffered a string of injuries when she was alone with stay-at-home dad Scully-Hicks.

Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC said Elsie was found unresponsive by paramedics after Scully-Hicks attacked her at his home.

She died at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, after doctors decided she would not survive her traumatic head injuries.

Elsie's birth family were left distraught by the little girl's death and said the family was 'numb with pain'.

Speaking on behalf of the family, her birth grandmother Sian O'Brien said: 'I accept that at the time of giving birth my daughter was living a chaotic lifestyle and was not in a position to care for Shayla and she was removed from the hospital five days after birth by social services.

'As a family, we continued to have contact with Shayla whilst she was in the care of the foster family.'

Ms O'Brien said all of Elsie's family were 'extremely attached to her and loved her very much'.

She said: 'In January 2015, I started proceedings in the family court to become the legal guardian for Shayla.

'I wanted to bring her up in a happy, healthy and warm family environment, that was all taken away from me when social services and the family court decided I would not be able to cope.'

The statement continued: 'We all continue to fight on even though every day we are numb with pain and hurt deep in the knowledge that Shayla was loved unconditionally by us all as a family and knowing that had she not been taken away from us, she would still be alive today.'

Social services chief Lance Carver today apologised to tragic Elsie's natural family over her death.

He promised that lessons will be learned over the death of the baby who was named Shayla O'Brien before being adopted by killer Scully-Hicks.

Mr Carver said it was 'committed to learning lessons from its findings'.

He said: 'The review found that the care planning and adoption assessment processes were followed correctly and were robust.

'As Director of Social Services, I acknowledge unreservedly that there must always be a thorough examination to learn lessons from such a tragic event and I fully accept the recommendations from the review.

'I do not underestimate the impact on those closely affected and we have thoroughly considered our own processes whilst the independent review was taking place.

'As a result of this, a number of actions have already been implemented to strengthen the monitoring arrangements once a child has been placed for adoption.

'These changes include additional professional oversight over and above normal supervision methods, an enhanced visiting schedule, and ensuring the robust recording and sharing of information.

'The death of a child within an adoptive placement is incredibly rare, but made no less shocking or distressing by its infrequency. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest sympathy to members of Elsie's birth and adoptive families.

'Implementing the recommendations of the independent review is a priority for the council and one we take incredibly seriously.'

Suzanne Griffiths, Director for National Adoption Service for Wales, described it was 'tragic and extremely rare.'

'The report concludes that the key decisions regarding the approval of Elsie's adoptive parents and their subsequent matching with Elsie were thorough and robust.

'There is clearly a need to carefully consider the detail of the review and its recommendations of that policy and practice can be strengthened.

'The adoption process has remained highly regulated since sweeping reforms were introduced in the 1980s. Adoption offers permanence and good outcomes for the vast majority of children who leave care in this way.

'The process of approving prospective adopters and placing children for adoption is necessarily thorough and detailed.

'It places a duty on professionals to make enquiries and ask questions, in a sensitive and balanced way, in order to safeguard and promote a child's welfare.'

Child Practice Review independent chair Wendy Rose said: 'We must not forget that the tragic death of a child is at the heart of this review.

'The review has been a particularly difficult and emotional process for the child's birth family and for members of her adoptive family.

'Their contribution to the review has been valuable and greatly appreciated.

'For the vast majority of children placed for adoption the outcome is positive and they go on to lead healthy and well-nurtured lives with motivated and committed parents.

'There was no indication that it would be any different for this child.

'In the tragic circumstances of this child's death it is imperative we learn from what happened to her.'