Couple charged in relation to death of toddler refused bail

A detective investigating the murder of a two-year-old has told a court he believes the man charged with her death attacked the toddler at a house in Co Tyrone.

Ali Jayden Doyle died from a serious head injury in hospital on August 6th.

Darren John Armstrong (32) and Jade Dempsey (24) appeared in court in Omagh on Tuesday charged in connection with the death of the toddler.

Mr Armstrong, of Ashbeg Drove in Dungannon, has been charged with Ali’s murder and perverting the court of justice.

Ali’s mother, Ms Dempsey, who is originally from Dublin, but has an address in Sycamore Drive, Dungannon, has been charged with perverting the court of justice and causing the death of a child by an unlawful act.

The pair, who appeared before Omagh Magistrates Court via video link, were refused bail.

The toddler died at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast after she was found unconscious at a house in Park Avenue, Dungannon.

Det Sgt James Brannigan told the court that when emergency services arrived at the house, Ali was unresponsive.

The court heart that Mr Armstrong told emergency services that Ali’s one-year-old brother had hit her over the head with a toy and that she had fallen against a hearth.

Det Sgt Brannigan said: “On the way to hospital, paramedics became concerned. They contacted social services and the PSNI in relation to the two children.”

The court heard that both children had been placed on the child-protection register in April of this year because Ms Dempsey was in a relationship with Mr Armstrong.

“They were expressly told on a number of occasions that the reason the children were on the child-protection register was because Mr Armstrong was to have no access, supervised or unsupervised, to these children,” said Det Sgt Brannigan.

Mr Armstrong told police that his partner went to his home to return a bank card. He claimed that Ms Dempsey then left the house to look for a lost dummy.

“When she was retracing her steps, she said she got a phone call to say the child was hurt, and on returning to the house the paramedics were already on site,” the officer added.

“Police investigations found that that the previous night, Ms Dempsey and Mr Armstrong made arrangements for her to travel to Belfast to purchase a buggy.

“She arranged to leave the children with Mr Armstrong while she went to Belfast,” he said before giving evidence of an exchange of texts between the two on the morning of the incident.

“There is reason to believe that the children were quite stressed at the time and for some reason he has attacked the child,” the detective told the court.

Evidence from pathologist

A pathologist stated that the injuries caused to Ali were more likely to be non-accidental than accidental.

“There is no linear mark to indicate a fall on the hearth. The injuries are so extensive they could not say how many times the head had been impacted,” added Det Sgt Brannigan.

“Jade in the interview said the same story, that she was returning a bank card and that she went out to look for the dummy. She was arrested in relation to those statements she gave to police in attempting to pervert the course of justice.”

Mr Armstrong’s solicitor, Patrick Fahy, said there is an “overriding presumption of innocence”.

James Strawbridge, a defence solicitor for Ms Dempsey, said his client was “a victim in this case, she is a young grieving mother”.

“She can be released and managed on bail. There will be a funeral at some stage and she needs to grieve.

However, Judge Bernie Kelly refused bail and both were remanded in custody to appear before Dungannon Magistrates Court on September 1st.