Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah are accused of allowing or causing the death of their three-year-old son, Abiyah
Will Jefford
BBC News, West Midlands
A couple accused of child cruelty after their son was found buried in a back garden were asked to leave temporary accommodation over welfare concerns, a court has heard.
Tai Yasharahyalah, 42, and his wife Naiyahmi, 43, are standing trial accused of causing or allowing the death of their three-year-old son, Abiyah Yasharahyalah.
He was found in the garden of their former home in Birmingham, in December 2022, years after his death.
A jury heard after moving out of the city, the couple had been living in a converted shipping container in Glastonbury until concerns emerged about their other child.
Coventry Crown Court was told on Monday that Abiyah’s existence was only discovered by the authorities after they started looking into the welfare of the other child.
The pair, who were homeless at the time, had been invited to live in a shipping container that had been converted into accommodation in Glastonbury in spring 2022.
Chris Black, the owner of the Zig Zag building, an arts and crafts warehouse that has a number of temporary accommodation containers, told the court the couple’s home had electricity and basic lighting, but did not have running water, a toilet or windows.
Communal facilities were available, he added.
The shipping container homes were on land run by the Zig Zag building in Glastonbury
The owner told the trial he asked the couple to leave at the end of October after other residents became “increasingly anxious” that the child had not been seen outside of the container.
After rumours about the family spread through the local community, specialist homelessness and rough sleeping nurse Denise Newman attempted to visit the couple in November, but was not allowed to see the child.
Mrs Yasharahyalah appeared to have a significant disability and could only walk “very slowly”, while her husband was only able to move as a “shuffle”, Ms Newman said.
After moving to a nearby caravan, the couple were continuously confrontational and refused help when they were approached on a number of occasions by the authorities, the jury heard.
Image source, PA Media
Abiyah is believed to have been buried in the garden from January 2020 to December 2022
On 2 December, police and social workers entered the caravan, placing the child in the joint care of the local authority, under an interim care order.
Photos of Abiyah were spotted on Mr Yasharahyalah’s social media accounts by authorities investigating the welfare of their other child.
The couple was arrested after admitting Abiyah was dead.
His body was exhumed in December 2022 from a garden on Clarence Road in Handsworth, from which the couple had been evicted earlier that year.
Both defendants deny neglect, causing or allowing the death of a child and perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues.
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