Parents subjected 'unwanted' baby to physical and sexual abuse before fatal head injury, court told

Parents subjected 'unwanted' baby to physical and sexual abuse before fatal head injury, court told Isabella Stasiak suffered ‘catastrophic’ head injuries from which she died on January 7 2025 aged 13 months - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in A 13-month-old girl was subjected to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her parents before she was fatally injured by her mother, a court has heard. Isabella Stasiak, who had been “unwanted” and was taken into care after her birth in December 2023, was returned to her parents Michal Stasiak and Kinga Wydrzynska nine months before she suffered “catastrophic” head injuries from which she died on January 7 2025, a trial at Warwick Crown Court heard on Tuesday. Polish nationals Wydrzynska, 26, of Johnson Avenue, in Rugby, and Stasiak, 28, of Blackwood Avenue, Rugby, deny causing or allowing the death of a child, four counts of causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child, two counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and three counts of cruelty to a person under 16. Wydrzynska also denies murder. The court heard Isabella had injuries including a skull fracture, a subdural haemorrhage in her brain, fractured ribs, a broken right arm, multiple bruises and a burn covering her entire face when she died in hospital. “Not all of those injuries had been caused to Isabella on the same occasion,” prosecution counsel Annabel Darlow KC said as she opened the case. “The evidence shows that Isabella had been seriously hurt on different occasions over a period of at least five weeks before her death and that this abuse had culminated in the extremely serious head injuries which caused her death.” She said Wydrzynska was the only adult present in the house when the fatal injuries were inflicted, adding: “The evidence shows that, far from being an isolated occurrence of harm to the little girl, those injuries were in fact the devastating culmination of systemic physical abuse.” Medical experts concluded Isabella died of injuries consistent with a “forceful, direct impact to her head against a hard surface” and separately, that her head had been “severely shaken”. The injuries were inflicted less than 12 hours before Isabella died and “most probably much closer to the time of death”, Ms Darlow told the court. A jury heard Wydrzynska had recorded videos of her “lifeless” daughter, who had a significant facial burn for which her parents had allegedly not sought medical help, in the early hours of January 7 last year, 17 minutes before she called 999. Ms Darlow said that rather than helping her daughter, the videos, which were later deleted, show a “monologue laced with self-pity in which (Wydrzynska) fusses about camera angles and complains about the negative consequences that will come her way because Isabella has died”. The female defendant can be heard saying: “I don’t want it to be messed up because of you. Please, don’t you understand, I’m trying to save you,” it is alleged. She also allegedly went into the back garden to smoke while police officers, who arrived at the scene five minutes after Wydrzynska called them at 4.37am, tried to save her daughter. Isabella was pronounced dead at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire at 8.30am the same day. It became clear after her death that Isabella had also suffered sexual abuse, Ms Darlow told the court, and Wydrzynska was arrested at the hospital on suspicion of child neglect and further arrested on suspicion of murder when she was taken to a police station. Stasiak was arrested on suspicion of child neglect. The trial, which is expected to last 12 weeks, was told neither Wydrzynska or Stasiak wanted Isabella, but they did not believe in abortion and the mother hid her pregnancy from her family by wearing baggy clothing. Wydrzynska allegedly left the house with a rucksack the day before she gave birth, with Stasiak telling her family she was going to see friends in Coventry for a “break”. Isabella was returned to the care of her birth parents, who met when they both worked at a warehouse, in April 2024 after Stasiak contacted a social worker to ask if the couple could get help with housing if they changed their minds about having their daughter adopted. Addressing the jury, Ms Darlow said: “In due course, you may wish to consider the extent to which the prospect of acquiring a new home influenced the defendants when they reversed their earlier firm decision to relinquish Isabella.” Isabella’s room at the house was “cluttered with household junk” and she slept in a “flimsy” collapsible travel cot, the court heard. Stasiak was not living at the family home at the time of his daughter’s death because he had been arrested for common assault on Wydrzynska the month before and was required to live elsewhere under his bail conditions. Wydrzynska, who wore a black top and blue jeans in the dock as she listened to proceedings through a Polish interpreter, appeared to show no emotion as Ms Darlow opened the Crown’s case. Stasiak, whose English was described as good but who also had an interpreter for assistance, wore a beige jumper and blue jeans. The court heard Wydrzynska had made online searches at the end of December 2024 which suggested her mental health was declining, including searches for depression, suicide prevention and psychologist helplines. She had made searches on New Year’s Eve for “can a child die from a degree of facial burns”, as well as searches relating to preventing swelling, fever with burns, wound infection and sepsis symptoms. She also searched “how long do you get in prison for beating a child”. Although he was not living at the address, Ms Darlow said Stasiak had seen his child and the scald to her face would have been “highly visible to anyone seeing Isabella”. She added: “You may think it is a statement so obvious, that someone seeing a helpless small child with such an injury should immediately have sought medical attention and questioned the carer of that child about how the injury occurred”. Facebook messages between the pair would also show “consistent abuse” by Wydrzynska through “neglect and infliction of harm and suffering”, while Stasiak’s responses were “habitually cold and unconcerned”. The trial continues.