A mother who starved her three-year-old son to death by causing him to join her in a religious fast when she was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia has been detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act.
Olabisi Abubakar’s mind was “thrown off balance” by the Covid lockdown and concerns about her immigration status and she began denying herself and her child, Taiwo, food, hoping fasting and prayers would save the world from coronavirus.
Abubakar, 42, was found not guilty of manslaughter and child cruelty by reason of insanity by a jury at Cardiff crown court but on Tuesday Mrs Justice Jefford ordered her to be remain detained in a clinic in south Wales.
The judge said Abubakar still suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and could pose “a risk of serious harm to the public” if she was discharged in her current state.
Jefford said that until she became ill, Abubakar had been a “good and caring mother” and Taiwo “happy, loved and well cared for”.
She said Abubakar, who was claiming asylum, was a deeply religious person who attended Pentecostal churches and would fast as part of her faith as a means of concentrating on God and prayer.
But there were stresses in her life, the judge said including difficulties with a neighbour in the small Cardiff house she was placed in, concerns about her immigration status and money worries.
When the first Covid lockdown was imposed, Abubakar became very isolated. “You were particularly worried and scared about Covid,” Jefford said. “Your difficulties with your neighbour developed into paranoid beliefs. Those paranoid beliefs interacted with your religious beliefs and you started to fast more and more.
“Your reasons for fasting were well intentioned. You thought that it would bring the blessings and protections of God to you, [Taiwo] and the nation. In fact, the impact was devastating. You had fasted to extreme for as much as three to four months.”
When police forced their way into her flat after a friend raised the alarm, Abubakar, who is originally from Nigeria, was thin, malnourished and dehydrated while Taiwo’s body was emaciated. He had been dead for some time, weighing only 9.8kg (1st 5lb), and pathologists concluded he had suffered from malnutrition and dehydration.
The judge said: “You had also engaged [Taiwo] in fasting which your church teaches you should never do with tragic circumstances.”
Friends and neighbours said Abubakar’s mental health problems were exacerbated by a lack of social support. They have questioned why she and Taiwo were moved to Cardiff from London when she had no network of support in the Welsh capital.
Plaid Cymru said the case highlighted an “alarming failure of public services on multiple levels” and called for an investigation.
The case came after two other high-profile lockdown child deaths in Wales: Logan Mwangi, five, was murdered by his mother, her partner and his stepson after largely vanishing from sight during Covid; and the parents of teenager Kaylea Titford were jailed for manslaughter last month after she died morbidly obese, having been neglected during lockdown.
Abubakar first came to London in September 2011, fleeing an unhappy marriage. She was placed in Cardiff after claiming asylum.
For supplies and food, Abubakar was directed to Lynx House, which the year before was strongly criticised for compelling asylum seekers who lived at or used the premises to wear brightly coloured bands.
A friend who tried to help said she was given £35 a week to live on, which was not enough as she had to send money to family in Nigeria.
Consultant forensic psychiatrist Tom Wynne told the court that Abubakar was “thrown off balance and her mind was unsettled with worry”. He said: “She was alone at home with little support.”
