Jamie Kightley died at Northampton General Hospital last year
- Adam Kightley, 23, and Jackie Parker, 21, charged with murder and neglect
- An inquest into the baby’s death was adjourned last year
By STEVE ROBSON
|Â
Adam Kightley, 23, and Jackie Parker, 21, appeared at Northampton Magistrates Court this afternoon.
Prosecuting, Keith Lumb, said the charges related to the alleged murder of baby Jamie Kightley at a flat in the Far Cotton area of Northampton.
Seven-week-old Jamie Kightley died at Northampton General Hospital in March last year
Charged: Jamie Parker, 21, and Adam Kightley, 23, have been charged with murdering their baby son Jamie
He was taken to Northampton General Hospital but died on March 17 last year.
An inquest into his death was adjourned last April.
The pair, both from Northampton, spoke only to confirm their names and are due to appear at Northampton Crown Court tomorrow morning.
Kightley appeared dressed in a grey tracksuit, while Parker wore a light grey jumper.
They have been charged with murdering Jamie as well as neglect.
Members of the family were in court to support the pair and shouted ‘I love you’ as they were remanded in custody.
Magistrate Carol Taylor adjourned the case until today when they will appear at Northampton Crown Court.
Chairman of the bench, Carol Taylor, said: ‘This matter has been sent to the crown court and will be heard tomorrow morning. Until then you are remanded into custody.’
The pair made no application for bail.
Read more:Â http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2267807/Adam-Kightley-Jackie-Parker-parents-Jamie-Kightley-died-aged-just-seven-weeks-old-appear-court-charged-murder.html#ixzz2IzP3xCzV
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- Angela Vane, 40 will appear before Torquay Magistrates’ Court today
- She was arrested on Saturday after boy, 2, was found dead at a home
- Shocked neighbours leave floral tributes near house in Modbury, Devon
By SHARI MILLER
|Â
A 40-year-old woman was last night charged with the murder of a two-year-old boy.
Angela Vane, 40, from Modbury, Devon, will appear before Torquay Magistrates’ Court today after the toddler was found at a home on Saturday morning, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
Officers were called to the house after the boy’s body was discovered by a member of the public. His identity has not been released but dozens of floral tributes were left outside the home.
Read more:Â http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265282/Angela-Vane-40-charged-murder-Devon-toddler.html#ixzz2Ic7rV8VY
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DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Police have begun a murder investigation following the death of a two-year-old boy.
Officers were called to a home in Modbury, Devon, this morning after the little boy’s body was discovered by a member of the public.
Police confirmed they have arrested a woman and she is being questioned by officers on suspicion of murder.
Crime scene: A police officer stands outside the home in Modbury, Devon, following the death of a two-year-old boy
As well as carrying out door-to-door enquiries, police have also begun initial forensic work – although it is believed a post-mortem examination has yet to be carried out.
That process is expected to be carried out in the coming days by a Home Office pathologist or specialist paediatric pathologist.
Investigation: Police are carrying out door-to-door enquiries
Officers arrived at the house at 8.20am this morning, where the child’s body was found
Police are investigating at the address in Modbury, Devon
Tribute: Flowers have been left close to the home where a toddler’s body was discovered this morning
In the meantime, detectives are continuing to piece together information and urged members of the public able to assist with their enquiries to get in touch.
A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said: ‘At around 8.20am today, following a report to police, officers attended an address in Champernowne, Modbury, where they found the body of a two-year-old boy.
‘A 40-year-old local woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is currently in custody at Charles Cross police station, Plymouth.
Read more:Â http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265282/Woman-40-arrested-suspicion-murder-boy-2-dead-house.html#ixzz2IXQq8bDn
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Riley Pettipierre died after drinking the heroin substitute at his family’s flat in Belper, Derbyshire, last March
- Mother Sally Dent, 33, had left it out so she could take it in the night Â
- Father Shaun Binfield, 45, also found guilty of manslaughter today
- Judge John Milmo thanks jury for dealing with ‘emotionally charged case’
Tragedy: Riley Pettipierre died after he took a sip from a beaker which contained methadone. His parents Shaun Binfield, 45, and Sally Dent, 33, were found guilty of manslaughter today
A couple wept in court today as they were convicted of killing their two-year-old son who died after drinking sipping methadone from his beaker.
Riley Pettipierre died in hospital after drinking the heroin substitute which had been left in a bedroom at his family’s flat in Belper, Derbyshire, last March.
A jury at Nottingham Crown Court found his parents, Sally Dent, 33, and Shaun Binfield, 45, guilty of his manslaughter following a two-week trial today.
Following the verdict, Judge John Milmo QC thanked the jury for dealing with such an ‘emotionally charged’ case.
He told the jury: ‘This has been a distressing case and I’m afraid it has fallen to you to deal with it.’
During the two-week trial, the jury heard Dent had a history of drug use going back many years and was prescribed methadone to try to rid her of the habit.
Dent regularly sold some of her methadone to other drug addicts to make extra money and was struggling to kick her addiction, the court was told.
The jurors heard that a green and yellow child’s beaker of the drug was left in the bedroom on March 12 last year so Dent could drink from it during the night if she needed it.
Convicted: The parents of Riley Pettipierre Shaun Binfield, left, and Sally Dent, right, wept as they were found guilty of manslaughter today by a jury at Nottingham Crown Court
The next morning Dent, who had taken heroin the night before, woke to find Riley unconscious next to her in bed after the toddler drank the drug from the beaker.
The couple told the court a cup was usually kept on top of the wardrobe in their bedroom but had been moved on that occasion because it was more convenient for Dent.
Binfield told the court he forgot to move the cup because he had got caught up with putting the family bins out and the childcare routine after getting up on March 13.
He fought back tears as he admitted he missed three opportunities to move the cup, which the child must have managed to get hold of and drink from.
Prosecutor Yvonne Coen QC asked him: ‘It’s not the possibility then that you thought to yourself ‘Ah, the methadone’s in there still but it’s safe’, or are you saying ‘I never even thought about the methadone at all’?’
Binfield answered: ‘I never even thought about it.’
Dent called 999 and paramedics arrived at the house to find Riley lifeless. His heart had stopped beating and his lips were blue, the court heard.
The child was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arriving and post-mortem tests showed that Riley had enough methadone in his blood, stomach and urine to prove fatal.
He is believed to have consumed between 10ml and 20ml of methadone, the court heard.
Heartbreak: Tributes were left outside the flat in Belper, Derbyshire, where Riley Pettipierre died soon after paramedics were called to the flat last year
The jury took just four hours to convict Dent and Binfield of manslaughter at Nottingham Crown Court.
Dent was also found guilty of a separate charge of cruelty to a child under the age of 16 for failing to keep methadone out of the reach of her child.
Following her conviction, the court heard Dent had previous convictions for possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply, assault and prostitution.
Judge Milmo adjourned sentencing until February 19 at Nottingham Crown Court.
Following the conviction, Detective Chief Inspector Phil Cox, of the East Midlands major crime unit, who was the investigating officer in the case, said: ‘Our sympathy goes out to everyone in Riley’s family.
‘The tragic death of this little boy was entirely avoidable. Methadone is a highly dangerous drug which never should have been put in a child’s beaker.
‘Drugs such as this should always be locked away and kept well out of the reach of children.’
Read more:Â http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264508/Heroin-addict-mother-guilty-killing-Belper-boy-Riley-Pettipierre-2-drank-methadone-beaker.html#ixzz2ILYUmOUi
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Bodies of mother and 2 children found in basement of Stittsville home
CBC NewsÂ
Posted: Jan 14, 2013 6:30 PM ETÂ
Last Updated: Jan 15, 2013 10:38 AM ET
Apparent murder-suicide3:07
Ottawa police are investigating what appears to be a double murder and suicide after the bodies of a woman and her two children were found in the basement of their west Ottawa home.
Police were called to the home at 25 Granite Ridge Dr. in the community of Stittsville at about 5:30 p.m. ET, according to a media release.
The father of the children found the bodies, police sources told CBC News, and was later questioned by police.
Investigators suspect the mother — identified by acquaintances as Alison Easton, though police sources say she also sometimes went by the name Alison Corchis — was responsible for the deaths of the couple’s son Alex, 10, and daughter Katie, 6.
A sharp weapon was used, but police sources would not say what type. It was a “disturbing scene,” they added.
A neighbour, Jeff Wilk, said the woman living at 25 Granite Ridge was a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator. She introduced herself to Wilk’s family when they moved into the neighbourhood more than a year ago, and gave them a welcome package.
Daughter’s 6th birthday last weekend
She was often seen walking her children to and from nearby Stittsville Public School on Granite Ridge Drive, Wilk said by phone.
Another neighbour, Tonya Marczak, said her daughter was Katie’s best friend. They celebrated Katie’s sixth birthday together last weekend.
Neighbour Tonya Marczak says her daughter was best friends with one of the victims. (CBC) “They seemed like such nice people. To hear that there’s three dead, it’s just devastating,” Marczak said. “I don’t understand how this happens, I don’t, especially when I’ve got little kids of my own.”
Marczak said she told her children there was a fire at the home, and nothing else. She said her daughter was best friends with Katy, who had just celebrated her birthday with a fancy dress-up tea party last weekend.
“I honestly don’t know what to tell them at this point,” she said. “Do I send them to school tomorrow, do I not? I have no idea.”
The two children went to school across the street. Katie was in kindergarten; Alex was in Grade 5. Neighbours said their mother stayed at home.
The major crimes unit is handling the investigation.
No further details were released.
Seven-week-old baby who died of horrific head and rib injuries ‘was subjected to two violent episodes while in care of her parents’
- Kristal Davison suffered skull fractures, broken ribs and a broken leg
- Lee Davison, 28, and Jessica Hopkinson, 19, both deny harming her
- Blamed each other when interviewed by police, Leeds Crown Court hearsÂ
By STEVE ROBSON
|Â
A mother and father murdered their seven-week-old baby girl who died after suffering a catalogue of terrible injuries, a court has heard.
Kristal Davison had skull fractures, broken ribs and a broken leg which were caused over a number of weeks before her death, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Lee Davison, 28, and Jessica Hopkinson, 19, both deny harming the baby at their home in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, who died from a head injury after at least two ‘episodes of violence or trauma’.
Accused: Mother of the baby Jessica Hopkinson, left, and father Lee Davison, right, both deny harming Kristal who was subjected to at least ‘two episodes of violence or trauma’ before she died
Davison, 28, called an ambulance on the morning of April 12 last year reporting that Kristal was gasping for breath.
When paramedics arrived, the baby was found to be pale, limp and lifeless and was taken to hospital, where she died the following day.
Julian Goose QC, prosecuting, said: ‘Kristal was subjected to at least two, possibly more, episodes of violence or trauma in her short life.’
Tragic: Seven-week old Kristal was found ‘limp, pale and lifeless’ by paramedics after Lee Davison dialled 999 in April last year
He added: ‘Both defendants admit that Kristal was in their care at all material times. How she came to suffer so many injuries with such a catastrophic effect is only known by the two defendants.’
A post-mortem examination found bruising and grazes to her head and face, internal bruising to her scalp, two distinct trauma injuries to her skull, bleeding to the brain and eyes, healing rib fractures and healing fractures to the left thigh and shin bone.
Mr Goose said: ‘Kristal was subjected to at least two and quite possibly more episodes of violence or trauma at different times to different parts of her body, including her head, ribcage and left leg.
‘The injuries relating to the brain, the eyes and bleeding to the surface of the brain were indicative of violent shaking.Â
‘The fractures to the skull establish that there was a significant blunt force applied to the head.Â
‘The fractures to the ribs and to the left leg established that she had been subjected to violence to those parts of her body.’
Both defendants were arrested and interviewed by police.
Mr Goose said Davison and Hopkinson, from Ashleigh Avenue, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, both refused to tell the truth to police.
He told the court that Hopkinson and Davison had started a relationship in early 2011 with Hopkinson falling pregnant in May that year, after which they were seen by social workers.
Mr Goose said: ‘The relationship between the defendants was at times volatile. Neighbours were able to hear frequent arguments involving shouting, banging and swearing.
‘The last of such arguments was heard during the night of April 11. A male voice was heard to shout and swear and a female voice was heard to be crying and shouting back.’
‘The relationship between the defendants was at times volatile. Neighbours were able to hear frequent arguments involving shouting, banging and swearing.’
Mr Goose also told the jury that Kristal was seen at home in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, by a midwife and health visitor. She was weighed and examined and it was noticed that she was losing weight in the weeks up to her death.
The court heard a health visitor attended the family home eight days before her death and again two days before her death – but apart from losing weight, explained by Hopkinson and Davison as the baby vomiting, there were no injuries noticed by the health visitor.
Kristal was also seen by a GP on April 3 – but ‘nothing unusual’ was noticed by the doctor during a physical check, the jury was told.
At just before 7am on April 12, Davison called 999 and paramedics were sent to the house. They found Kristal on her back in the bathroom where Davison was attempting to resuscitate her with directions over the phone.
He told paramedics that he had been up all night watching her. Kristal was rushed to hospital but despite the efforts of medical staff, died at 2.50am the next day.
Mr Goose said: ‘The opinion of the pathologist is that Kristal was subjected to at least two and quite possibly more episodes of trauma at different times to different parts of her body, including her head, rib cage and left leg.
‘At the very least, say the prosecution, the defendants should have been aware, if they were not inflicting these injuries, that Kristal needed help.
‘If either of the defendants was not involved in causing such catastrophic injuries to Kristal, then it was a simple task to remove her fro the violence being inflicted by the perpetrator.
 ‘At the very least, say the prosecution, the defendants should have been aware, if they were not inflicting these injuries, that Kristal needed help.’
‘How difficult could it have been to take Kristal away from the house to a place of safety if there was any risk of serious injury being caused to her?’
The court heard that, during interviews, Davison told the police he did not know how his daughter had been injured.
But later, he went on to say how Hopkinson had ‘slammed the baby’ into the changing mat and sofa.
Hopkinson also at first denied knowing how Kristal’s injuries had occurred, but then told police Davison would shake the baby to wake her up.
She also later requested another interview with police, telling them: ‘It was Lee who did it’, describing hearing ‘bangs’ while he and Kristal were in another room.
Mr Goose added: ‘How could these defendants not have known how those injuries were caused?
‘How difficult would it have been, you may ask yourselves, to have sought help for Kristal?
‘There were plenty of opportunities – telling the health visitor when she visited, telling the GP at the doctors, talking to their parents who lived nearby and were in regular contact, simply picking Krystal up and walking out of that house, to be away from the perpetrator of the cruel violence.
‘Whether they caused Kristal’s death themselves, separately or together, or they failed to take all reasonable steps to protect her from the serious and obvious risk of injury to her at the hands of the other, the prosecution say that they are both guilty of causing or allowing the death of Kristal Davison.’
Both deny causing or allowing the death of a child. The trial continues.
Read more:Â http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262305/Seven-week-old-baby-Kristal-Davison-died-horrific-head-rib-injuries-subjected-violent-episodes-care-parents-Lee-Davison-Jessica-Hopkinson.html#ixzz2I0jNr2qy
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January 11, 2013
Corinne Platonov.
A Mississauga mother was found not criminally responsible Friday of killing her 4-month-old son because she suffered delusions that she was saving him from physical and sexual abuse and sending him to a safe place in heaven.
Justice Bruce Durno agreed with a joint submission by defence lawyer Paula Rochman and prosecutor Brian McGuire in Brampton court on Friday that Corrine Platonov, 41, was not criminally responsible for the death of her son, Alexander.
Court heard she drugged her baby with Tylenol 3 and then smothered him in their house on Golden Hills Way, near McLaughlin and Derry Rds., after her husband went to work last May.
Platonov dropped her head into her hands and cried as court heard a victim-impact statement from her husband, cardiologist Michael Platonov. Dr. Platonov was not in court as Justice Durno sentenced his wife to an indefinite stay in a psychiatric facility.
Court heard that she originally planned to kill herself and her 2-year-old son Victor also, but decided to spare Victor because she felt her husband could not live without him. In his victim impact statement, Dr. Platonov said that she was a “generous, compassionate, caring†parent for their two boys.
Dr. Platonov’s statement said he was tormented by the thought that they could not protect Alexander, but “he’s with God. He’s happier, I’m sure.â€
Court heard that Corinne Platonov had been sexually abused before she met her husband, and could not shake fears that her former tormentors would track her down and abuse her children.
She had degrees in education and social work and was considered “caring, compassionate (and) intelligent,†according to the agreed statement of facts.
Under questioning from the judge, she said she realized that she could be held in a mental health facility indefinitely.
The judge then asked her if she was confused at all about the legal process.
“Everything is clear, your honour,†she replied.
We ask if the patriarchal mindset that runs across castes and class can be changed to prevent foeticide and infanticide. | |||
| Supreme Court judges in India have summoned the health secretaries in seven states over a worrying fall in the number of young girls in India. They are demanding details about clinics flouting the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act – to determine the sex of unborn babies – with potentially fatal consequences.
The UN children’s charity UNICEF says the culture of favouring males in India is costing the lives of millions of young girls. The agency says more than 2,000 illegal abortions are being carried out every single day, and it is dramatically altering the balance of the population. It warns: “Decades of sex determination tests and female foeticide that has acquired proportions are finally catching up with states in India. This is only the tip if the demographic and social problems confronting India in the coming years.” Speaking in April 2011, Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, called for a crusade against the widespread practice of foeticide and infanticide. “The falling child sex ratio is an indictment of our social values. Our girls and women have done us proud in classrooms, in boardrooms and on the sports field. It is a national shame for us that despite this, female foeticide and infanticide continues.”
India has very strict abortion laws. Until 1971, terminating pregnancies was only allowed if the mother’s life was at risk. Other exceptions were then allowed: for fetuses with potential birth defects; for babies conceived through rape; and for pregnancies in unmarried girls below 18. In 1994 the government passed a new law making it illegal to use ultrasound scans to determine the sex of the baby – a crime carrying a jail term of up to three years. So what needs to be done to change the centuries-old mindset of favouring boys? Joining the Inside Story discussion with presenter Shiulie Ghosh are guests: Mitu Khurana, a pediatrician and a women’s rights activist; Suhas Chakma, the director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights; Sadanand Dhume, a journalist/writer and a resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute.
The fate of female children in India:
|
- By TARA BRADY
|Â
A woman from southern California has been arrested after her boyfriend’s two-year-old daughter suffered a seizure and died after eating chilli powder.
Amanda Sorensen, 21, of Apple Valley, was taken into custody on Monday for allegedly feeding the chilli to the child as punishment.
Authorities confirmed Sorensen had been arrested on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death.Â
Arrest: Amanda Sorensen, pictured left and right, has been arrested after her boyfriend’s two-year-old daughter suffered a seizure after the woman allegedly gave her chilli powder
Police were called to the family home in the Apple Valley at 4.16pm on Sunday where they found the girl, who was the daughter of Sorensen’s boyfriend.
The toddler, whose name has not been released, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
An investigation is ongoing, a sheriff’s spokeswoman told KTLA, and an autopsy will be carried out to determine the exact cause of death.
Jodi Miller told the New York Daily News: ‘We responded to a report of a child suffering a seizure. We did not comment as to anything that may have occurred as part of the ongoing investigation.’
Tragic: Sorenson, pictured with a toddler on her Facebook page, was allegedly punishing the girl
Happier days: Sorensen, who is being held in jail, is pictured with her boyfriend and his baby daughter
THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF CHILLI
Chilli’s main ingredient Capsaicin is an irritant in humans and other mammals, causing a burning sensation in the tissues with which it comes into contact.
Airway resistance increases following inhalation of capsaicin in both mild asthmatics and non-asthmatic people.
Capsaicin can be fatal in large quantities. Symptoms of overdose include difficulty breathing, convulsions, and changes in skin colour.
Airway resistance increases following inhalation of capsaicin in both mild asthmatics and non-asthmatic people.
Capsaicin can be fatal in large quantities. Symptoms of overdose include difficulty breathing, convulsions, and changes in skin colour.
If a baby ingests chilli powder it can swell the airways and cause them to stop breathing.Â
Chilli’s main ingredient Capsaicin is an irritant in humans and other mammals, causing a burning sensation in the tissues with which it comes into contact.
Capsaicin temporarily causes bronchoconstriction, coughing, nausea, and a lack of coordination in the upper body after inhalation.
Airway resistance increases following inhalation of capsaicin in both mild asthmatics and non-asthmatic people.
Chili powder can be fatal in large quantities. Symptoms of an overdose include difficulty breathing, convulsions and changes in skin colour.
Scene: Police went to the family’s Apple Valley home on Sunday after the girl had a seizure
Police were called to the family home in Apple Valley at 4.16pm on Sunday where they found the girl who had suffered a seizure after eating the powder (file picture)
Neighbors told NBC San Diego that they didn’t notice anything unusual about the house and would see several children from toddlers to teenagers entering and leaving the home.
‘I would give them the benefit of the doubt,’ neighbor Patricia Amado said. ‘I can’t imagine a parent purposely doing something like that to a young child.’
Sorensen is being held at the West Valley Detention Centeron on $ 500,000 bail and is due in court on Wednesday.
|Â
Sara Ege has been sentenced to 17 years in jail for murdering son Yaseen Ege, 7, in Cardiff in 2010
A woman who beat her son to death for failing to learn parts of the Koran by heart and burned his body to destroy the evidence has been jailed for life today.
Sara Ege, 33, dressed in brown, with a matching headscarf, collapsed as the sentence was delivered at Cardiff Crown Court.
She had to be helped from the dock as she was told she would serve a minimum of 17 years.
She had been praised as a ‘brilliant mother’ to seven-year-old Yaseen but was convicted of his murder by a jury at the same court last month.
Sara Ege told a confusing and contradictory series of stories to explain how her son met his death.
She began by playing the role of a heart broken parent mourning the tragic death of a much-loved son in a house blaze.
When it emerged that Yaseen was dead before the blaze was ever set, investigations began to uncover a history of violent abuse.
Within weeks of his death Ege made a chillingly frank confession detailing the extent of the beatings her son suffered at her hands.
She told how she beat Yaseen with such little provocation that she made frequent secret vows with herself to refrain from hurting him.
Well intentioned as they may have been, the vows were discarded within a few days and the violent beatings he suffered would restart.
Ege described her son collapsing at home on the day of his death while still murmuring extracts from the Koran.
The jury watched the grim video confession in silence during the trial. Ege herself was excused by the judge and was not present in court.
In the video Ege details how she forced her son to drink some milk before leaving him collapsed on the carpet next to his bed still reciting the Koran.
When she returns to the room it is to witness her son’s last moments of life, as she realises the extent of his injuries.
She panics as she sees she will be held accountable for his condition and decides to destroy evidence of her beatings by burning his body.
Yaseen Ali, 7, was found to have died before the blaze at his home started, leading police to investigate the mother who issued a frank confession before retracting her statement
Trial judge Mr Justice Wyn Williams accepted that she had suffered prolonged bouts of depression due to a number of factors but went on to highlight the crucial last three months of Yaseen’s life.
‘The violence that you perpetrated on your son was not confined to one day,’ the judge told Ege as he passed sentence.
‘I am satisfied that, over three months, you beat him on a number of occasions, often with a wooden pestle.
‘His injuries must have caused him a good deal of pain. In my judgment Yaseen was subjected to prolonged cruelty.’
He said the evidence showed that, on the day Yaseen died, he was attacked and suffered ‘serious abdominal injuries’.
‘You abused the precious relationship between a parent and a child’
‘There is a further aggravating feature and that is that you attempted to burn Yaseen’s body. There can be no doubt that you set fire to his body in an attempt to evade the consequences of what you had done.’
Ege (left) described her son (right) collapsing at home on the day of his death while still murmuring extracts from the Koran
Yousef Ege, 38, pictured outside Cardiff Crown Court, was cleared of causing or allowing his son’s death
He added: ‘What was your motive for acting as you did? I am satisfied that, on the day of his death, Yaseen was kept home from school so that he could dedicate himself to his (Koran) studies.
‘On that day Yaseen must have failed in some way because I am satisfied that it was that failure which was the trigger for the beating.’
‘That is what you told the police in the course of your confession in July 2010 and I see no reason to doubt what you then said was true.’
The schoolboy had suffered multiple injuries to his body and died in July 2010 from internal injuries caused by three months of punishing beatings.
His death was treated as a terrible tragedy in the aftermath of the blaze but it was quickly found he was dead before it was set.
Ege accused husband Yousef Ege, 38, who stood trial with his wife, of being a violent bully who beat her and was their son’s real killer.
But he was cleared of causing or allowing his son’s death at home in Pontcanna, Cardiff, south Wales, by failing to act to prevent it.
Ege was found guilty both of murder and of a charge of perverting the course of justice
At various times she claimed to have been motivated by voices from the devil, egging her on, and also by bad spirits, called Jinn.
Ege, a mathematics graduate from India, also claimed at one point she believed the stick she used on her son had an evil spirit in it.
Evidence was given in court by a teaching assistant who noticed that Yaseen’s normal perfect writing had deteriorated.
Yaseen Ali’s funeral drew large crowds from the Cardiff community saddened by the loss of the seven-year-old
She found he had been writing left handed because he found it too painful to hold a pencil with his right hand.
When asked why, he revealed his mother had hit him so hard on the hand as a punishment he could barely move his fingers.
On another occasion Ege was called to her son’s primary school when he was found to be in too much pain to sit.
He was sent home ill but Ege successfully managed to switch her son to a new school over the half term break.
Ege claimed in court that her husband was a violent bully who regularly beat her and was responsible for beating their son.
She claimed that husband Yousef beat Yaseen to death when the child tried to intervene to stop his father hitting her.
It was her husband, with the collusion of his family, who devised and carried out the plan to destroy evidence of the beatings, she said.
When that failed she was forced to make the confession she did because of a series of beatings and death threats from her husband.
Sentencing Ege today the judge took a series of mitigating factors into consideration.
He accepted that Ege suffered from a recurring psychiatric illness which, while not amounting to a defence of diminished responsibility, “lowered the degree of culpability”.
Yaseen Ali’s funeral in Cardiff following his death in July 2010
He also acknowledged that domestic violence, of which Ege had complained during the trial, was at least a factor in her mental state.
‘I accept that, to an extent, you were a victim of domestic violence and had a difficult relationship with your husband and your mother-in-law,’ the judge said.
He also accepted she had suffered a series of miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies before giving birth to Yaseen which had been a cause of depression.
Once she had successfully conceived a child she suffered post natal depression. Later she had breast cancer, an illness she went on to beat.
He said that he accepted that throughout most of Yaseen’s life the evidence showed she had been a good mother.
‘I also accept what Mr Murphy says: In many respects you were a devoted and loving mother. You did many fine things to bring Yaseen up a good boy.
‘I give you credit for the good things that you did in Yaseen’s life,’ the judge said.
Sentencing had been adjourned from last year to allow the completion of a series of psychiatric reports into Ege’s mental state.
The consensus of the reports was that Ege was suffering from depression during the vital final three months of her son’s life.
Ege was arrested within weeks of her son’s death and has spent the last two-and-half years in a series of secure units.
The judge said that he regarded that period as ‘semi-incarceration’ and would count it towards her 17 year minimum term sentence.
Cardiff Council published a six-page serious case review into the circumstances leading to Yaseen’s death.
It detailed claims about domestic violence in the youngster’s household dating back as far as 2003 and those initial concerns, told to a woman’s safety group, were not reported to police or Cardiff Council’s social services department.
Referrals to the council’s children’s services were delayed following fresh claims of domestic violence in 2007, the review also found.
But when police and children’s services later tried to follow up on the reports, Ege declined the offers of intervention and said the matter was resolved.
Yaseen’s murder could not have been predicted, the report said.
Read more:Â http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2258444/Mother-jailed-minimum-17-years-beating-seven-year-old-son-death-stick-recite-Koran.html#ixzz2HJcCLAnk
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