A ‘deeply religious’ asylum seeker deliberately starved her child to death during lockdown in a bid to stave off Covid, a court heard.
Nigerian-born mother Olabisi Abubakar is accused of the manslaughter of her son, Taiwo, after the malnourished boy was found dead at the family home in Cardiff on June 29, 2020.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Abubakar was fasting from food and water to stave off coronavirus – and forced Taiwo to take part.
Police were called to the address in Cathays after a friend became concerned for her welfare.
After raiding the mother’s flat by taking the door off its hinges, they found Taiwo dead – weighing just 9.8kg – on a sofa bed with his mother.
Three-year-old Taiwo Abubakar was found dead at his home on Cwmdare Street (pictured) in Cathays, Cardiff on June 29, 2020
Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC said: ‘Police were called to the address by a friend who become concerned for her welfare.’
Mr Heywood said Nigeria-born Abubakar was ‘lying on a sofa bed, she was noticeably thin, malnourished and dehydrated.’
He said Taiwo was ’emaciated and cold to the touch’, adding: ‘It was clear that Taiwo had been dead for some time.’
Mr Heywood continued to explain that the windows were closed in the flat and there was ‘a pervading smell of decomposition and faeces – it was dirty and soiled nappies were lying around.’The prosecutor added that Abubakar had ‘deliberately neglected’ Taiwo by ‘failing to provide food and water to join her in fasting as a religious act.’
He said: ‘Olabisi Abubakar was a deeply religious Pentecostal Christian for whom fasting is a part of her faith.’
Mr Heywood also said that the mother would carry out fasts as ‘an act of devotion but it was stated that children considered too young should not fast.’
The court also heard that because she was ‘fearful of Coronavirus’, and her prayers were going unanswered, Abubakar caused Taiwo to join her in a fast ‘without food or water.’
Mr Heywood said that when doctors weighed Taiwo’s body following his death he weighed just 9.8kg.
In a post-mortem examination that was carrried out by pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbeatter, he said he found ‘no evidence other than malnutrition and dehydration’ which caused the young boy’s death.
The court heard that the 42-year-old mother had not been to church since the start of lockdown in March 2020, and so carried out prayers and fasts at home by asking God for help with coronavirus and her immigration status.
In police interviews Abubakar denied Taiwo and requested that he take part in fasts. She also insisted that he was ‘eating well’, but diary entries found by police seemed to suggest she wrote about him fasting.
In one of the entries, it was found that she claimed he had last eaten ‘Weetabix for breakfast and porridge for dinner’ on June 26. But she had then passed out before police arrived at her home on June 29. Mr Heywood added: ‘Cruelty to Taiwo led to his death.’
Nigerian-born Abubakar is also charged with two counts of child cruelty in the time leading up to his death.
She is accused of causing Taiwo ‘unnecessary suffering or injury to health’ before his death.
Jurors were told Abubakar is appearing via videolink from hospital, having been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The court heard the fact she neglected Taiwo was not in dispute, but jurors must decide her state of mind at the time.
Abubakar denies manslaughter and two counts of child cruelty.
The trial continues.
Daily Mail (UK)
