Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, (pictured) was today convicted of murdering his daughter

A gay father who murdered his adopted 18-month-old daughter was visited by social services 15 times but they still raised no concerns - despite finding out she had broken her leg and had 'fallen down the stairs'.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, subjected little Elsie Scully-Hicks to months of horrific assaults and was heard shouting 'shut the f*** up' at her in his home in Llandaff, Cardiff.

The toddler suffered a string of suspicious injuries before Scully-Hicks eventually killed her just two weeks after she was formally adopted by the fitness instructor and his husband Craig, 36.

Scully-Hicks also shook the toddler while he was looking after her and threw her against a hard floor.

Social workers paid at least more than a dozen visits to the couple's home from January 2015 and the pair had to undergo months of training, assessment and meetings.

Adoption officials have now launched an investigation after Scully-Hicks was convicted of murdering Elsie.

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

Scully-Hicks, who sobbed when he was convicted, denied murdering her but was today found guilty by a jury after a four week trial.

The court heard that on January 2015 the couple were visited by a adoption manager after expressing a desire to become fathers.

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

Social services in the Vale of Glamorgan now face a formal investigation over whether they missed chances to save Elsie.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, shook Elsie Scully-Hicks before she was 'thrown against a hard floor' while he was looking after her at his home in Llandaff, Cardiff, on May 25 2016

Social workers visited the couple 15 times January 9 - 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 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 Advertisement

On the day of Elsie's death, Scully-Hicks took her shopping for an outfit for her to wear at a party to celebrate her adoption 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.

Mr Lewis said: 'The injuries that caused her death were inflicted upon her by the defendant shortly before he called emergency services that day.

Scully-Hicks had presented himself as a loving and doting father but he inflicted injury after injury on Elsie before he killed her

'His attack upon her that day was not the first time he had employed violence towards Elsie, nor was it the first time he had caused her serious injury.

'His actions on the late afternoon of May 25 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.'

The court heard Scully-Hicks also sent messages to husband Craig calling Elsie 'a psycho' and 'Satan dressed up in a Babygro.'

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

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***.'

The court heard Elsie suffered a broken leg, just above her right ankle, just two months after being in the care of Scully-Hicks.

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.

A post mortem examination found Elsie suffered bleeding behind both eyes as well as rib fractures and a skull fracture which the pathologist said was 'as the result of an impact to the head.'

Consultant paediatrician Dr Stephen Rose said he believed Elsie's injuries were caused by being 'shaken violently.'

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

Timeline: How baby Elsie suffered a string of injuries at the hands of her killer father before her murder November 17, 2014 – Elsie is born, taken from her drug addict mother and put in the care of Vale of Glamorgan Council. September 10, 2015 – Elsie comes to live with the Scully-Hicks. November 5, 2015 – Elsie fractures her right leg while alone with Scully-Hicks. He tells Craig she fell from a toy table. November 9, 2015 – Elsie is seen by her GP for the injured leg. Scully-Hicks twists his story, telling the doctor that Elsie injured herself falling while using a baby walker. November 12, 2015 – Elsie's leg is x-rayed but doctors miss a second fractured thigh bone that could only have been caused by 'significant trauma'. Instead doctors only find a minor fracture on her right leg. As such, the doctors believe Scully-Hicks's account and Elsie is sent home in a leg cast. After Elsie's death, the x-ray is looked at again. This time the second thigh bone injury is spotted. Expert Dr Sarah Harrison tells the court it was the sort of injury caused by a child running and falling with force. Elsie could not run at this age however. She concludes the fracture could only have been caused by 'significant trauma' and says she had never seen anything like it in her 20-year medical career. The two fractures, on the right leg and the thigh bone, could only have resulted from something as severe as a car crash or a fall from a massive height. December 16, 2015 – Elsie suffers a bruise to her left forehead that lasts for eight weeks. Scully-Hicks tells his husband Elsie 'whacked' her head on a toy table. Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC shows jurors a picture of the toy kitchen and asks why the bruise was vertical in appearance if she had fallen against the horizontal edge of the unit. December 17, 2015 – Adoption officials visit the Scully-Hicks. December 21, 2015 – Scully-Hicks lies to health visitor Jodie Golten that a GP has examined the bruise. Scully-Hicks claims he has already taken Elsie to see the GP, and offers a 'plausible explanation' for the injury. However, it later transpires there is no record of him seeing a GP. Miss Golten gives him good feedback, writing in her notes: 'She appears to have a lovely bond growing with Matt. Both giving lovely eye contact and playing together.' Jaunary 18, 2016 – A month after the first bruise to her forehead, Scully-Hicks sends his husband Craig a video of Elsie over WhatsApp. It clearly shows a fresh bruise overlaying the one she received a month ago. Again, there is no record of Elsie being seen by a GP at this time. Craig did not appear to raise any concerns. March 10, 2016 – Elsie is taken to hospital. Scully-Hicks claims she fell 'head over heels' down the stairs after opening a baby gate while he was sorting washing. He calls an ambulance but does not tell doctors there was blood in her vomit or that she couldn't sit up for 20 minutes. Elsie is taken to hospital but discharged after four hours. The Scully-Hicks claim Elsie was never the same after this fall and believe a CT scan at this time would have detected health problems that caused her death. However, Elsie did not qualify for a CT scan with the Welsh NHS. April 16, 2016 – The Scully-Hicks move to a new house in Cardiff. April 2016 – Elsie develops a squint in her left eye and is referred to an eye clinic. Craig takes her to see GP Dr Ruth Stone. Dr Stone describes Elsie as a 'normal, happy child.' She says she could not see the squint and Elsie is referred to an eye clinic. May 6, 2016 – A month later, Scully-Hicks takes Elsie and her adoptive sibling to a routine appointment with consultant paediatrician Dr Paul Davies. Dr Davies tells jurors that Scully-Hicks appeared frustrated, adding: 'I thought maybe he's finding looking after two busy toddlers a bit stressful.' He looks at Elsie's eye but cannot see anything out of the ordinary. She had not been seen by the eye clinic by the time she died. May 12, 2016 – Elsie is formally adopted by the Scully-Hicks. May 25, 2016 – Scully-Hicks calls 999 at 6.20pm and Elsie is rushed to hospital after becoming unresponsive. Her injuries are similar to those caused by a car crash, the court heard. Medical staff find she has fractures to her leg, skull and to three ribs. She also has bleeding to three parts of her brain as well as haemorrhages to both eyes. Four days later, she dies at the University Hospital of Wales after suffering extensive brain damage. Consultant paediatrician Dr Stephen Rose says he believes the fractures to Elsie's ribs are a result of 'crushing injuries', adding that they are likely to have been caused by 'an adult's hand around the chest, compressing the chest forcibly'. Dr David Tuthill, who examines Elsie at A&E, reports Scully-Hicks to police because of his 'very calm' and 'strange' behaviour. He tells the court: 'Parents are usually in floods of tears and it's my job to comfort them. A child has just died. It struck me as very unusual. He was very calm and out of the ordinary. Normally you'd expect a father or mother to be in tears.' May 27, 2016 – An MRI scan reveals bleeding on both sides of the brain, caused by being gripped around the ribs and shaken from back to front. May 29, 2016 – Elsie dies. May/June 2016 – Elsie's previous injuries are re-examined. June 27, 2016 – Scully-Hicks is interviewed by police. December 21, 2016 – Scully-Hicks is arrested on suspicion of murder. November 6, 2017 – Scully-Hicks is convicted of murder. Advertisement

Texts reveal Scully-Hicks struggling to cope with toddler he killed 'Tired tonight, it's the first day on my own with the kids. Went ok but Elsie didn't settle in the night and I'm going to be in for a long night :(:(:('

'Bit hairy around teatime lots of screaming lol. Elsie hasn't been sleeping great but I think that's a long-standing problem. I'm hoping she sleeps through the night. Fingers crossed'

'It's a long-standing issue. She wakes up at regular intervals during the night. She just wants to be given her dummy and attention but she has a proper diva strop about it all! We think someone used to bring her downstairs in the middle of the night which we don't do. She's p**** because we don't let her'

'I'm dealing with another diva strop at tea time. She practically popped the eyes out of her head. As soon as she ate it and the dessert came out her halo was back on'

'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. She's just stopped but I doubt that's the last I'll hear tonight'

'She has just screamed non stop for 10 minutes. She had a full bottle and clean nappy. Literally not even half an hour and she is a psycho. She was knackered too so I don't get it. I left her to cry. I can't go up there every time!!! She has to learn'

'Yo yo well on the whole it was OK... minus lunch and tea time when she turned into Satan!!! Then again at bedtime she screamed in her cot for 10 minutes!!! lol xx'

'She gets so wound up when she doesn't get her own way. It is unbelievable'

'She is just being a pain in the a**. She was a dream until 6.30 then turned into a monster again and refused to finish her bottle. In the end I just put her in the cot, closed the door and left her. She woke again at 7.30, cried a little but then went off again. So far no more but who knows with her'

'Honestly she is satan dressed up in a baby grow!!! In bed half a bottle just about and screamed through it all again!!!'

'Elsie has had two nights of being Satan before bed which ain't fun!! What gwan with you? All ready for last day then? Xx'

'Whoop whoop yep still on for Thursday!! Haha she pretty much looks and sounds like the exorcist to be fair!!!'

'Awesome I can't wait.... If she does it too much more we will call a priest lol'

'No I'm stressed and I have a headache!!! She won't stop crying because she's over tired because yet again she refused to nap because we were out ... this is exhausting!!! Xxx' Advertisement

Matthew Scully-Hicks previously claimed Elsie had fallen down the stairs and hurt herself in the months before her death

Child protection chiefs will now grill social workers over whether they missed chances to save Elsie from her abusive adoptive father.

Experts will investigate whether Scully-Hicks could have been stopped before he shook his daughter to death.

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

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

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

Elsie's adoption was overseen by the Vale of Glamorgan Council - and senior figures will be quizzed over their handling of the case.

A Child Practice Review is being launched by the Cardiff and Vale Regional Child Safeguarding Board and the probe could take up to a year to complete.

They will discuss whether chances were missed with Elsie and whether any lessons can be learned to prevent similar cases in the future.

A spokesman for the board said: 'Now that the criminal proceedings have concluded, the Regional Safeguarding Children Board will seek assurance that the independent child practice review, which has already been commissioned, into the tragic circumstances of the child's death, will be progressed.

'It would therefore not be appropriate for the Board to comment further until the conclusion of the independent review.'

Scully-Hicks was accused of hurting Elsie before but he had insisted that the baby gate (pictured) had just opened and that she had tumbled down the stairs

Speaking outside court, Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Wales, of South Wales Police, said the circumstances of Elsie's murder were 'extremely rare'.

He said: 'Our thoughts today are with little Elsie and those who knew and loved her.

'Her untimely death at just 18 months old has had a devastating effect, first and foremost on her family, who remain uppermost in our thoughts.

'Elsie's death has also impacted a wider community, including the many professionals involved in her care and the subsequent investigation.

'I would like to thank all of them, including the many witnesses who assisted the prosecution.

'This case represents an extremely rare and distressing set of circumstances.

'We at South Wales Police continue to respect and value the role that adoption, and those involved, play in our society.'

Lisa McCarthy, a senior crown prosecutor within CPS Cymru-Wales, described the case as 'tragic'.

'The evidence put forward by the CPS proved that Matthew Scully-Hicks was not only responsible for those injuries, but that he intended to seriously harm her,' she said.

'The prosecution built a case through careful and detailed analysis of witness accounts, medical evidence and the circumstances surrounding Elsie's death.'

A spokesperson for the Vale of Glamorgan Council said: 'The Regional Safeguarding Children Board, as the relevant statutory body, has commissioned an independent Child Practice Review into the tragic death of Elsie Scully-Hicks and it would be inappropriate for the Vale of Glamorgan Council to comment further until this independent review has concluded.'

How medical evidence played key role in convincing jury adopted father did murder 18-month-old daughter

Medical evidence was crucial in convicting Matthew Scully-Hicks of murdering his adopted daughter Elsie, prosecutors said.

A jury at Cardiff Crown Court heard from 12 medical experts and six doctors who treated Elsie, who discounted the defendant's version of events.

Speaking after Scully-Hicks was convicted of murdering Elsie, Iwan Jenkins, head of the Complex Casework Unit for CPS Wales, said the evidence from medical experts played a 'crucial' part in the decision to proceed with the case and in enabling them to believe there was a realistic prospect of conviction.

He said: 'The expert evidence had to be considered in light of showing the mechanical aspect of the injury, how it was caused, the extent of that injury, whether it could be the subject of innocent explanation of children being busy and falling as they often do.'

A jury at Cardiff Crown Court heard from 12 medical experts and six doctors who were able to outline her injuries

Mr Jenkins said evidence was also used to analyse 'the age of those injuries and whether or not the explanation provided by the suspect, the defendant then, was capable of being correct and true'.

He said the CPS preparation of the case where there were 'only two people that know what happened, the defendant and the victim', had been very 'thorough'.

Investigators had to analyse 'expert evidence to piece together a very complex and difficult case', he said.

And he added: 'The police investigated the matter, gathered information from surrounding circumstances, from neighbours, from their interview with the suspect, from medical records of the previous months prior to the hospitalisation of the victim in May 2016.'

Mr Jenkins said while the CPS was pleased with the verdict, 'ultimately there are no winners, there's no victory as such, it is a sad occasion'.

He added: 'It is very sad. Any murder is sad and surrounded by trauma for people who are involved.

'When the victim is so young and defenceless as this individual child was and that the perpetrator was someone who should have been looking after her, caring for her, making sure she avoided any injury, it deepens that sadness and the tragedy of what's happened in this case.'