Deeply religious mum starved son, 3, to death in lockdown 'to stave off Covid'
A religious mother fasted her three-year-old son to death during the Covid-19 lockdown, in the belief it would save the nation from the deadly virus, a court has heard.
Olabisi Abubakar, 42, from Cardiff, was found thin and severely dehydrated next to the body of her son Taiwo at their flat in Cathays, near the city centre, in June 2020.
The former hairdresser, who came to the UK from Nigeria as an asylum seeker in 2011, had been suffering with paranoid delusions that were said to have been partly brought on by fears over the pandemic.
Abubakar had fasted for many years as part of her faith as a devout Pentecostal Christian and in her deteriorated mental state placed herself and her son on an extended fast hoping God would grant the country protection.
By the time police forced entry to her home on Cwmdare Street on June 29, they had been fasting for about three to four months. Distressing footage from the responding officer's body-worn camera showed him finding a malnourished Abubakar and her dead son inside.
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A post-mortem examination found Taiwo, who had been dead for some time, weighed just 22lb and had died from malnutrition and dehydration.
Abubakar was unanimously found not guilty by reason of insanity of the manslaughter and neglect of Taiwo, and on Tuesday High Court judge Mrs Justice Jefford detained Abubakar indefinitely under sections 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act of 1983, due to her being deemed a risk to the public.
At the hearing, Mrs Justice Jefford described the case as "extremely sad".
The judge said Abubakar's psychological condition had also been contributed to by personal stresses, including an ongoing dispute with a neighbour, concerns over her immigration status and money.
Addressing Abubakar, who appeared via video link from a psychiatric facility, Mrs Justice Jefford said: "The jury found you not guilty of all these charges by reason of insanity.
"That reflects the fact that at the time, you had a serious mental illness, paranoid schizophrenia and, as a result, you did not know what you were doing.
"What happened to you and your children is extremely sad, and the result of that illness. You had been a good and caring mother and your children were happy, loved and well cared for," the judge added.
"You are a very religious person with a strong belief in God. You attended a number of Pentecostal churches both in London and then in Cardiff, where you came to live in 2017. As part of your religious beliefs you would fast as a means of concentrating on God and prayer.
"There were also stresses in your life. You had difficulties with a neighbour in the flat below yours, you were concerned about your immigration status, where you felt no-one, not even God, was helping you."
"You continued to attend church, but that came to a stop in March 2020 with the first Covid lockdown, and you were particularly worried and scared about Covid," she continued. "All these things contributed to developing a serious mental illness.
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"Your reasons for fasting were well intentioned. You thought that it would bring the blessings and protection of God to you, your children and the nation at this difficult time.
"In fact, the impact of your fasting was devastating on you and your children. The police officer who entered your flat recorded what he saw, and no-one could fail to be moved by the condition that you were in.
"You had also engaged your children in fasting, which your church teaches you should never do, with tragic consequences."
The jury heard during the trial that Abubakar had believed in a number of delusions, including that she and her children had been pulled into a grave to fight evil, and that her neighbour had killed her child.
The judge, at the end of the hearing, commended Abubakar's friend who had been doing the single mother's shopping, and called the police when he could no longer contact her.
Mrs Justice Jefford said: "The court commends Chike Obi for his public spirited acts."
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