Pictured: Mother and partner charged over toddler Ali Jayden Doyle death

A toddler was in the care of a man accused of killing her for less than 30 minutes when she suffered fatal head injuries, a court has heard.

wo-year-old Ali Jayden Doyle was found unresponsive by paramedics who attended a 999 call at a property in Dungannon on Friday.

She had suffered “catastrophic” head injuries, a judge was told.

Darren Armstrong (32), originally from Enniskillen but with an address at Park Avenue in the town, is charged with one count of murder and one count of perverting the course of justice.

Jade Dempsey, the mother of the little girl, appeared alongside her partner, charged with causing or allowing the death of her child.

Dempsey (24), who also goes by the name Maguire, is originally from Dublin but had been living at Sycamore Drive in Dungannon.

She is also charged with perverting the course of justice by providing misleading information regarding the child’s death.

The court was told emergency services were called to the bungalow at 11.06am.

It was originally claimed the toddler had fallen, but after an initial medical examination, Armstrong was arrested.

Dempsey was arrested on Sunday, after being handed over to police at the border by gardai. She was charged with two offences in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The two suspects appeared via video link at Omagh Magistrates Court yesterday.

Detective Sergeant James Brannigan said he believed he could connect both defendants to the charges.

The court was told Ali was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where Armstrong and Dempsey gave doctors an account of what they claimed happened.

Armstrong told doctors that Ali’s younger brother, a one-year-old, had hit her on the head with a toy and that she had fallen against a fireplace and hit her head.

Concerned at this explanation, the court heard doctors then phoned social services and informed the police.

Dempsey initially told police she went to the house to return a bank card but when she arrived she claimed she became aware that one of the children lost a dummy and decided to retrace her steps, leaving her children with Armstrong.

While retracing her steps she claimed she got a phone call to say that her daughter was hurt.

The detective told the court that police investigations established that the previous night the couple made arrangements for Dempsey to travel to Belfast to purchase a buggy and to leave her children with Armstrong.

At 10.30am Ms Dempsey sent a text saying “we’ll be there in a second, come out”.

A taxi driver gave a statement saying Ali was alert and in good spirits at this stage.

At 10.54 Armstrong sent a message saying “he’s seriously melting my head, won’t stop crying for completely nothing” in relation to Dempsey’s one-year-old son.

At 11am a call was made from Armstrong to Dempsey and at 11.08am a call was made to paramedics.

An initial report from the pathologist said there was no “linear mark” that would indicate the child had a fall on the hearth and the injuries were so extensive she could not say how many times the head had been impacted.

The pathologist said that in over 25 years’ experience she has not seen this level of injury in a child or adult from an accidental fall and there was no evidence of previous physical trauma.

A witness close to the house told police that at around 10.45am she could hear a child screaming from the address and another child crying.

The court heard what alerted her to the screams was that “the child wasn’t taking a breath, it was just a continuous scream”.

This — the court was told — happened on two or three occasions before the screams stopped and she believed the child had been pacified.

Paramedics reported that Ali was wet to touch and her hair was wet.

Armstrong claimed he carried water from the kitchen in his hand, and threw it over her to try and get some response from her. But he changed that version of events to say he had taken the child into the shower to try and revive her.

Both accused made applications for bail. Police claimed Dempsey was a flight risk.

They also claimed that Armstrong was a flight risk and was at risk of interfering with witnesses in the case.

A solicitor appearing for Armstrong said his client had given a consistent account of what happened to the little girl and disputed that his client would be a flight risk.

Meanwhile, a solicitor acting for Dempsey claimed his client was “a victim” in this case and as a grieving mother should be released on bail to attend her daughter’s funeral planned for later in the week.

Magistrate Bernie Kelly said that having considered all the information she did “not consider either a suitable candidate for bail”. She added that Dempsey was “an actual flight risk” given her family support all live in Dublin.

“As for Mr Armstrong … I entertain no confidence that he would adhere to bail”, she said.

Both were remanded to appear on September 1 at Dungannon Magistrates Court.