A dad who murdered his 10-month-old daughter after her crying woke him up in a ‘fit of temper’ has been jailed for life. Aiman Abbas Toor was killed at the hands of her father Ali Zain, 25, in November 2019, in a ‘brutal and deliberate’ act.
Prosecutors said that in a 'fit of temper' Zain killed Aiman, who died from asphyxia. He then repeatedly lied about how she died and came up with a 'fantasy story' to align with medical evidence, Manchester Crown Court heard. The prosecution suggested he deliberately smothered or 'crushed' Aiman, causing fatal injuries.
Two 'elite' pathologists with 60 years of experience between them said they'd never encountered the 'exceptional' injuries Aiman suffered. She sustained petechial haemorrhages, bleeding under the skin which revealed themselves as red spots on her face.
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Aiman had been dropped off at the family home in Crompton Street, Farnworth, and Zain was left to look after her while his wife, Sahar Toor, went to work at the Holiday Inn Express near the Trafford Centre.
Zain had returned home just before 2.30pm after an early shift working at a Subway store. Aiman was dead by 6.30pm on November 1, 2019. Zain is the only person who will know exactly what happened in between those hours prior to her death in their home in Bolton .
After the fatal attack, Zain lied to paramedics, his wife, and police. Initially he claimed that they had both fallen down the stairs. He later said that he'd been woken up by Aiman crying and decided to put a quilt over her face for 'no more than two minutes' to try and make her stop.
When she stopped, he thought she'd gone back to sleep and only later discovered she was unresponsive. Zain later said that he'd lied as he in was in a panic, and because in Pakistan the police 'torture and beat you'.
Prosecutors said that Zain deliberately smothered his daughter and at least intended to cause her really serious harm. At trial Zain admitted responsibility for her death but said it was an accident and denied acting unlawfully, but was unanimously found guilty of her murder by a jury.
At a sentencing hearing on May 17, Andrew Thomas QC, prosecuting, said there were a number of aggravating factors including Aiman’s particularly young age, the abuse of position of trust, the fractures to her ribs and the fabrications he created which caused distress to his family.
The court previously heard that Aiman's post-mortem examination revealed seven fractured ribs suffered in non-accidental incidents, which occurred two to five days before Aiman's death.
Mitigating, Mohammed Nawas QC said his client ‘feels a huge regret’ which was ‘genuine and real, almost palpable’. “He has caused immense distress to his family - he is himself a broken man,” he said.
“His life, marriage and future lie in ruins. There is no suggestion this was premeditated. Most of all he wishes to speak, through me, of the regret, remorse and shame for doing what he did and putting his family through what he has. He is deeply regretful.”
Sentencing, the judge, Mrs Justice Ellenbogen, said: “On November 1 2019, you took the life of a much-loved little girl, the first child of you and your wife, Sahar, and the first grandchild of your wife’s parents, with whom she would stay and who looked after her for a great deal of the time.
"By your actions, not only have you deprived Aiman of her life, but you have deprived her mother, grandparents and wider family of the great joy which she so obviously brought them, and ought to have brought them for many years to come."
She said the evidence from the experts was that her nose and mouth had been blocked and were under pressure for some prolonged period.
"You deliberately deprived your daughter of the oxygen which she needed to breathe," she said. The judge added that it was not ‘credible’ that anyone else had caused the injuries to her ribs. She said Zain 'persistently lied' to his family; paramedics; hospital clinicians; the police and the jury as to the cause of Aiman’s death.
The judge said Aiman lost consciousness and ultimately her life through ‘no accident nor a transient act’.
"I accept that your crime was not premeditated and am satisfied that it resulted from a loss of temper, when Aiman’s insistent crying precluded your ability to sleep. This crime was not premeditated but arose from a loss of temper,” she added.
Zain, of Crompton Street, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years and six months, less the 271 days he spent on remand. Mug shots of defendants are released by police following sentencing. Greater Manchester Police said it did not have an image of Zain on file.
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