Sick parents who buried son in garden after 'breathtaking cruelty' face jail

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A heartless couple are set to be caged after subjecting their three-year-old son to "breathtaking cruelty" before burying him in their back garden.

Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah were responsible for their son Abiyah Yasharahyalah's tragic death. A court heard how the the little boy died in early 2020 from a respiratory illness with a more than minimal cause of his death being being severe malnourishment, after the cruel parents denied him adequate food. Abiyah suffered from rickets, anaemia and stunted growth as a result of his heavily restricted diet, The Mirror reports.

The callous couple who had him on an "extreme" vegan diet, were found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child last week. A two-month trial at Coventry Crown Court was told it was likely Abiyah suffered from severe dental decay, and had six fractures on his right arm, legs and ribs, possibly caused by a fall about six before his death. The post-mortem examination conducted on the youngster's "skeletal" remains failed to identify exactly how died.

But jurors accepted prosecutors' claims that Abiyah was ill-treated by being denied adequate nutrition and medical care. Now, the Yasharahyalahs face lengthy sentences when they appear again at Coventry Crown Court today. Bail, which had been given to both defendants during the course of the trial, was removed after the convictions.

During his closing speech to jurors, prosecutor Jonas Hankin KC Hankin alleged it would have been obvious to both defendants that Abiyah, whose teeth would have been wobbly, was in considerable pain from abscesses and other ailments.

Referring to a comment made by Abiyah's mother that "nature has a way of doing things", Mr Hankin told the court: "That is their attitude, 'we're right and nature will decide'. It is breathtaking arrogance and cruelty."

Malnutrition of the severity suffered by Abiyah was simply not seen in the UK, the barrister said, with the defendants having "for reasons best known to themselves" driven themselves and their son into conditions more commonly seen in the developing world.

Tai, born in London, who also used the first name Tai-Zamarai, and Naiyahmi shunned mainstream society and left Abiyah's body buried at their property in Handsworth, Birmingham, when they were evicted in March 2022, the trial was told.

Tai, a 42-year-old former fitness instructor, and his former shop worker wife were eventually arrested in December 2022 while living in a caravan in Glastonbury, Somerset, having previously spent time living in a shipping container.

Jurors unanimously convicted both defendants after hearing how they kept the body of Abiyah in their bed for eight days, before embalming and burying the toddler in an 80cm-deep grave at the rear of their then-home in Handsworth.

The trial was told that police visited the property three times: in February 2018 when Abiyah was alive; again in September 2021 after his death; and then in March 2022 to assist in the couple's removal for non-payment of rent.

The trial was told that instead of contacting the NHS, the couple - who told police they had renounced British citizenship and had an "off-grid" existence - tried to treat their son's final illness with garlic and ginger.

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The pair, whose diet largely consisted of nuts, raisins and soya milk, were both "extremely thin" when they were arrested on December 9, 2022, leading to the discovery of their son's body five days later.

Tai and his 43-year-old wife, who was born in Birmingham, denied the charges against them, telling the court they did not act wilfully and believed Abiyah would recover from a flu-like condition.

Tai told West Midlands Police in interview that he had carried out an "eight-day ritual" hoping that Abiyah would "come back", but had eventually decided to conduct a burial in accordance with his culture on what he regarded as sacred ground.

Both defendants said they were living in a "kingdom" set up by Tai, which involved an unsupplemented vegan diet and adherence to a "slick law" legal framework he had invented.

The court heard the defendants married in 2015 and changed their names from Donald Nnah and Donna Graham after forming what they viewed as their own religion.

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