Couple who buried their three-year-old in Birmingham garden sentenced to a total of 44 years
Footage of baby Abiyah
The parents of a three-year-old boy whose body was found buried in a garden have been sentenced to a total of 44 years in prison.
Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah, 42 and 43, from Birmingham, were found guilty at Coventry Crown Court on 5 December, of causing or allowing the death of their young son Abiyah Yasharahyalah through "breathtaking" neglect.
Tai was jailed for 24-and-a-half years and Naiyahmi was sentenced to 19-and-a-half years for causing the death of their three-year-old son and perverting the course of justice by burying his body in their back garden.
"It is difficult to imagine a worse case of neglect than that which the court has encountered in this case"
Passing sentence on the couple, Mr Justice Wall said: “Abiyah died as a result of your wilful neglect of him. He was severely stunted in his growth – at almost four years of age he was buried in the clothes of an 18-month-old.
“I accept that there was no deliberate infliction of physical injury by either of you.”
But the judge added: “It is difficult to imagine a worse case of neglect than that which the court has encountered in this case.”
Although the couple had enjoyed the benefits of the NHS during the first 30 years of their own lives, the judge said, they had “denied this advantage to Abiyah for misplaced ideological reasons”.
“I am sure each of you played a part in starving him and failing to get medical care for him when the need for it was obvious to you.”
Abiyah was found buried in the couple's garden at their home in Clarence Road, Handsworth in December 2022.
It's believed he had been buried in the garden from January 2020.
The couple were arrested from a caravan in Glastonbury, where they had moved to after authorities checked on them, out of welfare concerns.
Abiyah's parents said they buried him underground believing he would be reincarnated if they followed a ritual.
"Kingdom of Yasharahyalah"
The couple had originally met while Tai, who moved to Birmingham in 2014, was busking. It was then that he introduced himself to his future wife, who's original name was Donna Graham, as the "King" of the Kingdom of Yasharahyalah.
'Leave my personal space' - Officers enter the caravan to try and speak with Naiyahmi but she is not willing
The trial was told that police visited the Clarence Road property three times – in February 2018 when Abiyah was alive, again in Septe
mber 2021 after his death, and then in March 2022 to assist in the couple’s eviction for non-payment of rent.
On the second occasion, police bodycam footage recorded officers asking if a child lived at the address and Tai becoming aggressive and being arrested for being obstructive.
The welfare check did not lead to Abiyah being identified as missing, due to confusion over records related to the address.
A child safeguarding practice review is ongoing into Abiyah’s death, examining police and other agencies’ involvement with him during his life.
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.
The three-year-old died of a respiratory illness at a time when he was suffering from bone fractures, severe malnutrition, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth and severe dental decay, Coventry Crown Court heard.
He was buried three feet under ground. On top of his body was a paving slab and plastic flowers.
He was not found until two years after his death. Tests could not confirm the exact cause of his death because baby Abiyah's tissue was so decomposed.
Abiyah’s skeletal remains showed he had suffered five broken bones, including a fractured arm, which led to a 'false joint', and rib fractures.
The couple "rejected society, citizenship and law"
In his closing speech to the jury last month at Coventry Crown Court, prosecutor Jonas Hankin KC told jurors that between 2017 and 2022 the couple "rejected society, citizenship and law" as they moved themselves and Abiyah into a "state of chronic malnutrition".
"They had control over their own lives and the capacity to influence their own thoughts and behaviour. They were responsible for their actions. At any time they could have made different decisions or reversed decisions where the consequences were obviously detrimental to their child's welfare".
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