Parents of boy buried in garden were 'stupid and blameworthy but not criminals' - court told

The parents of a three-year-old boy found buried in a Birmingham garden were 'stupid, misguided and blameworthy' but they are not criminals, a jury has been told. A trial has heard Abiyah Yasharahyalah died in January 2020 in Clarence Road, Handsworth but his body was not discovered until December 2022 when his parents were arrested in a caravan in Glastonbury.

His decomposed remains showed signs of severe malnutrition while analysis also revealed broken bones, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth, bone malformation and deformity. His parents Tai-zamarai, aged 42, and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah, 43 stand trial at Coventry Crown Court denying causing or allowing the death of a child, child cruelty and perverting the course of justice.

Today (Monday, November 25) Bernard Tetlow KC, for Tai-zamarai, accepted both defendants had neglected Abiyah but he argued they did not do so 'wilfully', which he pinpointed as the key issue for the jury to consider. Delivering his closing speech, he argued that the prosecution case was a 'total misreading and misunderstanding of what happened here'.

READ MORE: Boy buried in Birmingham garden died due to parents' 'breathtaking arrogance and cruelty', jury told

Mr Tetlow acknowledged the couple lived by a strict vegan diet and a belief system but he argued: "They were not prioritising their cultural practices and beliefs over their child, they genuinely believed their beliefs and practices were consistent with the welfare of Abiyah."

He conceded the defendants themselves had accepted they were 'foolish and misguided', adding that they brought on their own difficulties by 'idealistic stupidity'. But Mr Tetlow said: "They may well be morally culpable and blameworthy. They are. It's their fault. That does not make them criminally culpable for what happened."

He added: "For all of their foolishness, they were not acting wilfully. Or at least you cannot be sure they were acting wilfully."

The barrister submitted there was 'nothing inherently wrong' with living off a vegan diet, but he added the couple did not 'make the link' between that and their own significant mobility issues. He said: "Abiyah to them was a happy and healthy child until suddenly he wasn't."

He told the court they felt he only had cold and flu symptoms the day before he died in January 2020. Mr Tetlow explained that they buried Abiyah in the garden 'in accordance with their spiritual and cultural beliefs' that he would be reincarnated.

He declared they 'simply never gave a thought' to informing authorities, but it was not to prevent an investigation. The barrister reiterated that it was Tai-zamarai who told police that Abiyah's remains were buried at the Clarence Road address, where they had been evicted from months before their arrest.

Concluding his speech Mr Tetlow said: "Mr Yasharahyalah now realises at the time we are dealing with they were lost in a world of their own. Now they are pretty much back in the real world.

"Mr Yasharahyalah wishes he could turn back time. He wishes that, with the benefit of hindsight, he would have done things differently. Now their attitudes have changed.

"He now very much regrets what happened and wishes it hadn't happened. He now realises the harm their beliefs caused."

He added: "What has happened is undoubtedly their fault in a sense, they are undoubtedly culpable in a moral sense and blameworthy. They know that. It's a heavy burden for them to carry and reflect back on.

"They are clearly a devoted couple. At the time we are dealing with they were a very sad, misguided, inadequate and foolish couple. They did not wilfully neglect their child. They are not criminal."

The trial continues.