A mother caused the death of her three-year-old-son during the COVID pandemic by putting him on a religious fast with her, a jury has heard.

Olabisi Abubakar, 41, is on trial charged with child cruelty and the manslaughter of Taiwo Abubakar. She denies the charges.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that police were called to Abubakar’s home in the city on 29 June 2020. Concerns for her welfare had been raised by a friend.

Police found a “tragic and distressing scene” when they forced entry into the flat, the prosecution said.

Mark Heywood KC, prosecuting, told the jury that “Olabisi Abubakar was lying on a sofa bed”.

“She was noticeably thin, malnourished and dehydrated,” he added.

“Lying beside her was Taiwo. He was severely emaciated and cold to the touch. It was clear that Taiwo had been dead for some time.”

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A post-mortem examination found he weighed 9.8kg (21.6lbs), with no evidence to suggest his death was caused by anything other than malnutrition and dehydration, the prosecution said.

Abubakar was taken to hospital where it became apparent that she was mentally unwell.

She has been detained in hospital where she is receiving ongoing treatment and the jury heard she has also been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

‘Deeply religious’

Mr Heywood said that Abubakar was “very concerned by the dangers” of COVID-19 and asked a friend to bring her shopping to her flat.

“The prosecution case is that Ms Abubakar consciously and deliberately neglected Taiwo by failing to provide him with food and water, causing him to join her in fasting as a religious act,” he added.

“Ms Abubakar is a deeply religious Pentecostal Christian, for whom fasting is a tenet of her faith.

“Her religion makes it clear that fasting is an act of devotion, and children – too young to understand this – should not fast.”

Abubakar was born in Lagos, Nigeria, where she married and had four children, the court heard.

She moved alone to London in 2011, first seeking asylum in the capital before she was moved to Cardiff after she gave birth to Taiwo in April 2017.

People who knew her before the pandemic through churches in the Cardiff area believed Abubakar was a devoted mother and “thought well of her”.

Jurors will have to decide whether Abubakar was insane at the time of the alleged offending, which would make her not guilty by reason of insanity.

Prosecutors argue she was still able to form the intent that is a part of the cruelty to a child offence.

In police interviews, she told officers she did not remember anything from falling asleep on 27 June to when police attended her flat two days later.

Abubakar has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and two counts of child cruelty.

The trial continues.

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