Father knifed and burnt baby

3:39pm Tuesday 12th June 2007

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A father killed his 17 month old son six months after he won back custody of the neglected baby, a court heard.

Abid Ikram, 30, was convicted of cruelty against Talha Ikram who thrived when he was placed with foster parents.

But the courts agreed to allow Talha to return to Ikram and his mistress Samiara Parveen, 24, who is also is cousin.

The pair stubbed out cigarettes on the child and cut him so deeply his veins were left exposed, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Little Talha Ikram was left on the floor screaming in agony as his multiple fractures were left to "grind together", the court heard.

The baby finally died on September 6 last year when fat deposits from a broken thigh had invaded his lungs and suffocated him.

Prosecutor Jeremy Donne QC said: "The broken thigh killed Talha and whoever broke Talha's thigh killed Talha."

The lovers each deny counts of murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.

The QC said the baby had suffered apparent abuse and neglect ever since cousins Ikram and Parveen began living together.

The couple had given a variety of different accounts of the little boy's injuries, he said.

Parveen said the child had fallen down stairs and that a chair had collapsed on him.

Ikram explained away one injury with the words: "You know how naughty Talha can be."

Meanwhile Parveen bragged to one friend: "We go out late together alone late at night to buy food and shop and we leave the baby behind."

When the same confidante saw the pair out late she called the police who followed the couple back to their home in Ealing, West London.

There they found the child, then just 11-months-old, lying alone on the living room floor.

The jury were told Ikram, who had just days before won custody of the boy, admitted a child cruelty charge following the incident.

Mr Donne said: 'His son was taken into care where he thrived and flourished with foster parents.

"He took his first steps and even began to say a few words. He was a very active child.

"However following what was a fateful decision by the family court, Talha was returned to his father's care on March 23, last year.

"Six months later he was dead."

The court heard Talha's foster carers visited the little boy at home in Ealing a few weeks later.

He had a black eye and seemed quiet and unable to walk or move comfortably, jurors were told.

The carers urged Ikram to take the child to hospital and he agreed.

Over the next few months the infant suffered a series of injuries.

On the day of the baby's death Ikram called paramedics to day his son had stopped breathing.

He appeared "distraught" when medics were unable to revive the youngster while his lover appeared "calm", the court heard.

The paediatric doctor who examined the infant found injuries including fractures to the thigh and shin caused by the "pulling and twisting of limbs most likely the result of physical abuse".

He also had three fractured ribs and a burn on his back consistent with being burnt by a cigarette butt, the court heard.

The QC said: "The doctor stresses the obvious when he says this little boy must have suffered extreme pain."

Parveen and Ikram, of Cheltenham Place, Ealing, w London, each deny one count of murder and one of causing or allowing the death of a child.

The trial continues.