Mum accused of allowing toddler Ali Jayden Doyle's death back in prison after bail terms breach

Jade Dempsey (25), originally from Dublin and with a former address in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, had been granted compassionate bail to allow her to present to the Housing Executive as homeless in order to obtain an address for release.

But at Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Ms Dempsey appeared by video-link from police custody after breaching her bail conditions.

A defence solicitor confirmed the breaches were accepted, an application for bail would not be made as there is no longer an address available for Ms Dempsey.

He said: “My client knows she is going back to prison today.”

The circumstances surrounding the breaches which led to Dempsey’s arrest were not disclosed.

Deputy District Judge Peter Prenter remanded her in custody to appear by video-link at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court later this month.

In August 2021, Ms Dempsey left her 2-year-old daughter Ali Jayden Doyle and her baby brother in the care of her partner Darren Armstrong, who is charged with the child’s murder.

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

Dempsey is charged with causing her daughter’s death by an unlawful act and both are jointly accused of perverting justice by providing misleading information to police.

Dempsey was warned on numerous occasions that Armstrong was to have no access – supervised or unsupervised – with the two children prior to Ali Jayden’s death.

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.

Dempsey then claimed she actually planned to travel to Belfast that day to buy a buggy, leaving her son and daughter with Armstrong in contravention of social services care arrangements.

The court heard she recognised that her planned trip to Belfast went against specific requests to keep her children away from Armstrong.

"She admitted that she lied in her initial account to police because she was afraid of social services taking (her son) off her," Crown counsel Kate McKay said.