Tragic toddler’s mother lied to police ‘out of fear for other child’

Prosecutors said Jade Dempsey changed accounts about how two-year-old Ali Jayden Doyle was left in the care of the man accused of her murder in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

The little girl died in hospital after sustaining serious head injuries a week ago.

Dempsey, 24, of Sycamore Drive in the town, faces charges of perverting the course of justice and causing or allowing the death of a child.

Her partner, 32-year-old Darren Armstong, is accused of Ali’s murder and perverting the course of justice.

It emerged today that Armstrong has requested further post mortem examinations as part of his defence.

Paramedics called to his home at Park Avenue, Dungannon on August 6 brought the toddler to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where she was pronounced dead.

Dempsey initially told police she had gone to the address to return a bank card, leaving Ali and her one-year-old son with Armstrong while she retraced her steps to look for a dropped child’s dummy.

She claimed that during the search her partner phoned to say the girl had stopped breathing.

When she ran back to the house Armstrong said Ali fell and struck her head against a fireplace after being hit with a toy by her younger brother.

As Dempsey mounted an application for bail, Crown counsel Kate McKay disclosed that her co-accused had been prohibited from unsupervised contact with the children.