A baby's severe mistreatment has been uncovered after their 'binge drinking' mother walked away from a pram outside a supermarket, leading to the discovery of a catalogue of tragic abuse.
Julija Priadina caught the attention of security staff after she was clocked walking around Asda in Great Barr, a town north-west of Birmingham, swigging from a bottle of wine.
Security concluded that she was intoxicated but were shocked to see she had a young baby in her care. As the woman left the store, the 32-year-old took another gulp of alcohol before walking out into the road, forcing the traffic to stop for her and the buggy.
The Russian national then sat down on some steps before disappearing altogether, leaving the infant unattended for more than a minute and causing a nearby guard to rush to the tot's aid, reports BirminghamLive.
Mercy crews sped to the scene and Priadina, who at this point had come back and was preventing officials from assessing the child, was arrested.
Later in hospital a horrific catalogue of 32 injuries were discovered all over the three-month-old's body including bruises, cuts and bleeding within the brain while the youngster's left eye was unable to fully open.
It would later emerge Priadina had violently beaten her baby as she descended into a 'catastrophic breakdown into alcohol abuse'.
The former Jaguar Land Rover worker, of Skipton Road, Ladywood, went on to admit child cruelty and wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
She was sentenced to three years, nine months in January but it is only now the full story can be told, after the baby's father Shoja-ul-din Omrany was cleared of a single count of child cruelty.
The 54-year-old had denied wilfully neglecting the child by failing to seek medical attention. Following a four-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court a jury took less than two hours on Thursday, July 14 to unanimously find him not guilty of the offence.
During the proceedings Judge Richard Bond granted Birmingham Live's application for reporting restrictions to be amended, meaning Priadina can no longer benefit from the legal anonymity granted to her baby and the harrowing details of the case can be reported in full.
The couple visited the ASDA Queslett store around 3pm on Saturday, April 25, 2020, after the first national Covid-19 lockdown had been imposed. CCTV captured them arguing in an aisle as Priadina drank from a wine bottle.
At one stage Priadina pushed the pram, with her baby inside, away from her causing it to hit a set of racks. A few minutes later security staff were alerted to an altercation between the mum and another lady at the self-service checkouts, which was said to be over 'social distancing'.
Prosecutor Nina Ellin said: "A security officer noted that the defendant had two bottles of wine on the conveyor belt and one of those was half empty.
"Looking at this defendant she formed the view she was intoxicated; slurring her words and was unsteady on her feet. She was struggling to see and put money in the cashpoint. She was shocked this defendant had a child in her care."
The prosecutor added: "She watched as the defendant left the store and noticed the defendant stopped to drink wine from one of the bottles as she was leaving.
"She also watched her cross the road without appearing to stop for the traffic. The traffic had to stop for her. She was pushing the pram at all times.
"As a result of her actions the security officer contacted 999 and continued to watch the defendant as she went into the road.
"Having crossed the road the defendant then walked away from the pram leaving the baby in the pram. She was away for about one and a half minutes. The security officer walked across the road towards the pram then the defendant returned. The police then arrived."
A blood sample revealed Priadina had consumed so much alcohol she would have been approximately three and half times over the drink-drive limit.
Her baby appeared to be hungry and needing a nappy change, although no food or nappies were in the pram. The child was taken to hospital and was assessed as being 'genuinely well kept' and 'well nourished' but for the alarming number of injuries discovered.
Experts concluded they had been 'inflicted' and were 'non-accidental' with the significant head injuries in particular pointing to a shaking incident with an impact component.
Priadina had stayed at a homeless centre for a period before moving back into Mr Omrany's flat in Perry Barr on April 16 that year.
Ms Ellin said: "Statements from neighbours about the two of them said there had been problems over the years particularly in relation to noise and arguments, shouting, screaming and banging around, describing wine bottles and cans thrown out of the window and into the garden.
"One neighbour describes Priadina as a binge drinker. When she is not drunk she is shy and quiet but when drunk the whole block knows about it.
"Another neighbour states the defendant can't handle her alcohol. She is abusive to her partner when she's drunk. They lock each other out of the flat and shout."
During her police interview Priadina concocted a lie that she had invited two men into her flat, left her baby alone with them while she went to buy alcohol only to discover the bruises to her child the next morning.
But CCTV footage unravelled the false account and established she was alone with her baby in the flat on the night of Friday, April 24.
She later confessed she found it difficult having a baby without 'any help from anyone' adding she 'didn't know how to look after' her child.
Shown photographs of the tot's injuries she said: "I don't want to look at them they make me feel bad." Antonie Muller, defending, said: "Sober, one would have thought there's no problem here.
"She clearly had a catastrophic breakdown into alcohol abuse when she couldn't possibly care for her baby and no doubt was susceptible to reacting to her baby crying. It looks like she shook and gripped her baby very roughly. It was all relatively short-lived."
The barrister stated Priadina suffered with bereavement issues following the loss of her parents as well as her one-year-old son to sudden infant death syndrome whilst she was in Lithuania.
He added: "It must have been horrendous and now she has got to live with the fact she's done this. It is quite a catalogue.
"She moved across the world to the UK no doubt wanting a better life. When she got here things didn't turn out to be as rosy as she thought.
"She doesn't blame the co-accused (since acquitted Mr Omrany). He could have been more supportive. She had no support with the child.
"Whatever her bereavement or grief problem was it festered. Nobody was there to stop what was coming and she wasn't able to deal with it.
"That's why we are here. She had this alcohol crutch. She struggled as a new mum. The early days of Covid made that much worse."
Mr Muller told the court Priadina has since been 'cured of alcohol problems' and as of January had been been having supervised contact with her child, who was expected to make a full recovery, through a visitor centre.
He said: "Being a Russian lady in a British prison convicted of what she's convicted of, I imagine people are going to make it pretty tough for her."
Judge Roderick Henderson, passing sentence, said: "This was arguably a life-threatening injury and the truth of this is this was a disastrous period of a few days where an otherwise good mother lost complete control because you had a very serious drink problem at the time."
Mr Omrany, giving evidence at his trial via a Farsi interpreter, told the court he had been in a relationship with Priadina for six years prior to April 2020.
He stated he ran a grocery shop and had offered to pay for someone to assist his partner look after the baby if she was 'struggling'.
Mr Omrany said he returned home in the early afternoon of April 25 and noticed 'redness' and a bit of swelling to the baby's face.
He told the jury he suggested taking the child to the doctors but Priadina, as well as his sister via a call from Iran, reassured him it was just an allergy so they went to ASDA to buy bedding and clothes instead.
Mr Omrany said: "I trusted her. As a mother she cares for her child. Even more than a father. That's normal. Nevertheless I insisted taking (our baby) to the doctor. She kept saying there's no need.
"Maybe this was my fault but I did believe her. I never expected that she was lying about her child."
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