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Girl 'died after being starved' Girl 'died after being starved'
(about 2 hours later)
A seven-year-old girl kept prisoner by her mother and her partner died after being starved as part of a "punishment regime", a court has heard.A seven-year-old girl kept prisoner by her mother and her partner died after being starved as part of a "punishment regime", a court has heard.
Khyra Ishaq was eventually taken to hospital but died of an infection, Birmingham Crown Court was told.Khyra Ishaq was eventually taken to hospital but died of an infection, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
Jurors heard UK doctors had rarely seen such a severe case of starvation.
Khyra's mother Angela Gordon, 34, and Junaid Abuhamza, 30, both of Leyton Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, deny murdering Khyra on 17 May last year.Khyra's mother Angela Gordon, 34, and Junaid Abuhamza, 30, both of Leyton Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, deny murdering Khyra on 17 May last year.
The court heard a lock had been fitted high up on the kitchen door to keep Khyra and five other children away from the food in the home. Neighbours said they heard cries of "let me out" from the house at night.
Jurors have been told UK doctors had rarely seen such a severe case of starvation.
Khyra's body mass index at the time of her death was so low that it did not register on available medical charts, the court was told.
It's just as much murder... as if they had shot, stabbed, beaten or strangled Khyra Timothy Raggatt QC, prosecutingIt's just as much murder... as if they had shot, stabbed, beaten or strangled Khyra Timothy Raggatt QC, prosecuting
A lock had been fitted high up on the kitchen door to keep her and five other children away from the food in the home.
Prosecutor Timothy Raggatt QC said: "Mr Abuhamza and Miss Gordon kept control of the key to the kitchen and that meant they were in total control... of the means of access to food."Prosecutor Timothy Raggatt QC said: "Mr Abuhamza and Miss Gordon kept control of the key to the kitchen and that meant they were in total control... of the means of access to food."
After showing the jury photographs of fully stocked kitchen cupboards and a fridge packed with food, he added: "That household was not a household that was short of food, there was ample food in it for everyone.After showing the jury photographs of fully stocked kitchen cupboards and a fridge packed with food, he added: "That household was not a household that was short of food, there was ample food in it for everyone.
"The supply of food was controlled, it was controlled by these two [defendants].
"They could, as it were, seal it off from the children and they did, as you will hear.""They could, as it were, seal it off from the children and they did, as you will hear."
The court was told Khyra and the five other children in the care of the defendants were occasionally fed porridge, dry bread and fruit.The court was told Khyra and the five other children in the care of the defendants were occasionally fed porridge, dry bread and fruit.
They would have to eat with their hands on the floor of the small upstairs room they shared.They would have to eat with their hands on the floor of the small upstairs room they shared.
Mr Raggatt said: "The children were prevented from feeding themselves as they might have done if they were hungry, and hungry they were.Mr Raggatt said: "The children were prevented from feeding themselves as they might have done if they were hungry, and hungry they were.
'Whimpering in garden'
He said if the children were caught stealing food they were punished with "detention" and made to stand outside in the cold, beaten with a cane, or made to overeat until they were sick.He said if the children were caught stealing food they were punished with "detention" and made to stand outside in the cold, beaten with a cane, or made to overeat until they were sick.
He said the pair had still murdered Khyra, even though she died from an infection, because they had intended to cause her really serious harm. Amandeep Kaur, who lived near to the couple, told police she saw "abnormally thin" Khyra whimpering in the back garden of the property, dressed in just her underwear in March last year.
He added: "It's just as much murder... as if they had shot, stabbed, beaten or strangled Khyra to death." Mr Raggatt said the pair had still murdered Khyra, even though she died from an infection, because they had intended to cause her really serious harm.
He said Miss Gordon and Mr Abuhamza had betrayed their duty of care. "It's just as much murder... as if they had shot, stabbed, beaten or strangled Khyra to death," he said.
The two defendants had betrayed their duty of care, he added.
A post-mortem examination revealed the "mechanism" of death to be bronchial pneumonia and septicaemia.
"Although that is the mechanism of death, the cause of her succumbing in that way was acute malnutrition," Mr Ragatt said.
"The long and short of it is that her body mass index was so low, so dramatically reduced, that there is no figure for it on any of the available medical charts that measure human development."
Jurors were told that Khrya's home life changed after her natural parents split up and Miss Gordon and Mr Abuhamza became a couple and subsequently lived together.
Khyra was removed from school and Miss Gordon refused to admit visitors to the house, including a visit by school staff in December 2007 and a check by police a short time later.
"The household in Leyton Road was telling officialdom to mind its own business," Mr Raggatt said.
Mr Abuhamza has admitted five counts of child cruelty relating to other children while Ms Gordon denies five counts of child cruelty between December 2007 and May 17 2008.Mr Abuhamza has admitted five counts of child cruelty relating to other children while Ms Gordon denies five counts of child cruelty between December 2007 and May 17 2008.