A mother who starved her son to death has been placed under an indefinite hospital order. Olabisi Abubakar from Cardiff caused the death of her three-year-old Taiwo by extreme religious fasting but last Friday a jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity of a charge of manslaughter and two of child cruelty.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Ms Abubakar, a devout pentecostal Christian, became "engulfed" by her religious beliefs" during the Covid pandemic. Police forced their way into the 42-year-old's Cwmdare Street flat in Cathays on June 29, 2020, and found her thin and dehydrated next to the body of Taiwo. The former hairdresser is believed to have started the extreme fasting three to four months earlier.
A hospital order was imposed on Tuesday after forensic psychiatrist Dr Tom Wynne told the court Ms Abubakar was still showing "delusional beliefs" associated with the paranoid schizophrenia that caused her to starve her son. He said: "It is a relapsing and remitting illness. It can fluctuate and it is lifelong."
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The psychiatrist recommended that a restriction be made under section 41 of the Mental Health Act. This would mean Ms Abubakar could only be discharged from hospital if the Secretary of State for Justice agreed.
The judge, Mrs Justice Dame Nerys Jefford, told Ms Abubakar: "You did not know what you were doing... You had been a good and caring mother.
"You have been described by people who know you as a calm, pleasant and quiet person. You easily formed friendships, mostly with people from your church. You are a very religious person with a strong belief in God. You attended a number of Pentecostal churches, first 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."
The judge added that Ms Abubakar, who had arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2011 as an asylum seeker, experienced "stresses" including concerns about her immigration status, money, and a dispute with a neighbour. She stopped replying to messages from her sister towards the end of 2019 and had to stop attending church after the first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.
Ms Abubakar became "worried and scared", fasting more because she thought it would "bring blessings from God", said Mrs Justice Jefford. "In fact, the impact of your fasting was devastating," she added.
The judge ordered that Ms Abubakar remain in Bridgend's Caswell Clinic with a Section 41 restriction against her release. Ms Abubakar, who appeared in court via a video link, showed no emotion in response.
During her trial, two psychiatrists had said Ms Abubakar experienced paranoid schizophrenia during the pandemic, causing her son's death from malnutrition and dehydration. A post-mortem examination found Taiwo had been dead for some time before the discovery. His body weighed just 9.8kg (1st 5lb).
Unusually the prosecution asked the jury to find Abubakar not guilty. Mark Heywood KC, prosecuting, described it as “a case of the deepest tragedy” and said that, before the pandemic, Ms Abubakar was a “very good mother” to the healthy and happy little boy.
Ms Abubakar believed she had fallen asleep on June 26, 2020, and was brought back from heaven when police arrived. She told police: "I saw myself among the dead in heaven. I was saying: 'I don't want to die'. Then I saw the angels of God and they brought me back to life."
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