Parents guilty of causing buried Birmingham boy’s death

The parents of a severely malnourished boy whose body was found buried in a garden in Birmingham have been found guilty of causing his death.

Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah, 42 and 43, showed “breathtaking arrogance and cruelty” in their neglect of three-year-old Abiyah.

Abiyah was found buried in the garden of a property where the couple had lived in Clarence Road, Handsworth.

The Yasharahyalahs, who lived an off-grid existence, were evicted in early 2022 and police found their son’s body in December that year.

Both parents had denied neglect, causing or allowing the death of a child and perverting the course of justice.

The court had heard how Abiyah died following a respiratory infection, but this was not the full extent of his poor health.

He had been in a severely malnourished state and suffered with a list of other problems. The scale of his parents’ neglect only emerged after his body was exhumed.

During the trial, the prosecution told the jury Abiyah died between December 2019 and January 2020 and would have been about three years and nine months old.

Jurors heard how the couple showed “breathtaking arrogance and cruelty” by failing to give him enough food or get medical help when he was in pain.

Abiyah had suffered from bone fractures, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth and severe dental decay.

Evidence from examinations of Abiyah’s remains showed he had suffered five broken bones, including a fractured arm, and rib fractures.

The court heard the Yasharahyalahs had been motivated by a belief system including a restrictive vegan diet and a desire to avoid unwanted attention and, the prosecution said, were prepared to allow their child to “suffer the consequences”.

The parents had believed Abiyah would be reincarnated if they followed a burial ritual, the jury heard.

Yasharahyalah said in his Igbo culture it was believed every person had a physical and spiritual form, the latter of which could be saved.

The pair did not call the emergency services after Abiyah died because strangers could scare off spirits. Instead, they lit a paraffin lamp in the room near him as a beacon, in case his spirit wished to return to his body.

After an eight-day period, his body was embalmed, and they buried him in the garden.

Asked if they had buried the body to hide it, Tai Yasharahyalah said it was “not the case at all”.

Following the verdicts, the judge, Mr Justice Wall, commended jurors for their work and said it had been “both a long and difficult case”.

The couple showed no visible or audible reaction to the verdicts.

After the hearing, James Leslie Francis from the Crown Prosecution Service said Abiyah’s parents had showed a “callous disregard for his health and wellbeing”.

He said they had been free to behave in a way that damaged their own health, but they owed him a duty of care and their actions led to his premature death.

“Afterwards, they buried his body to hide their crime, without notifying the authorities,” he said.

“If his malnutrition and health issues had been treated, it is highly unlikely that he would have died suddenly and unexpectedly at his age.”

The pair will be sentenced next Thursday.