Jury returns 'not proven' verdict in trial of mum accused of killing toddler
Last updated 8th Nov 2017
A grieving mother was cleared of murdering her 14-month-old daughter by suffocating her with a pillow.
Sadia Ahmed, 28, sat emotionless in the dock staring straight ahead as the verdict was returned by the jury at the High Court in Glasgow.
But, seconds later as she left the court she broke down in the arms of a female relative.
The jury of eight women and seven men took just over an hour to find the charge against her not proven.
Judge Lord Matthews told Mrs Ahmed: “The jury have found the charge against you not proven you are free to leave.”
Lord Matthews told the jurors: “It's not meant to be an enjoyable business. At the end of the Inaya is dead. It's a terrible tragedy and we had to pick over the bones of it.”
During her four-week-long trial Mrs Ahmed denied murdering her daughter and claimed she had choked on bread. She told the jury: “My Inayah was the world to me.'
Mrs Ahmed from Glasgow, was accused of murdering her daughter Inayah by smothering her with a pillow at the family home on Bernisdale Drive, Drumchapel, Glasgow, on April 17, last year.
She said that she fed Inayah a small piece of buttered toast that morning and the child choked on it.
Shehe denied that she had confessed to her 31-year-old husband Suleman Ahmed, her mother-in-law Noor Ahmed and her sister-in-law Nadia Ahmed that she killed Inayah.
Her mother-in-law Noor Ahmed and her sister-in-law Sana Ahmed claimed Mrs Ahmed came downstairs with Inayah slumped in her arms and said: “I've put her to sleep forever.”
But, she denied this and also refuted an allegation from her husband Suleman that Inayah was a burden to her.
Mrs Ahmed said: “My Inayah was not a burden to me. I loved her with all my heart and soul. I'm a grieving mother. I will be grieving till my very last.”
The court heard that Inayah died as a result of irreversible brain damage caused by lack of blood and oxygen.
She was rushed to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow on April 17, 2016 and placed on a life support machine.
Inayah died three days later when her parents had to make the heartbreaking decision to switch of her life support machine.
Initially Mrs Ahmed's in-laws told police that the child had choked to death.
But, in court giving evidence they changed their story and claimed that Mrs Ahmed had confessed to killing her daughter.
Mrs Ahmed, a trained nursery nurse, told the court she was treated 'like a slave' in the household and expected to spend her days cooking and cleaning and was not allowed a phone of her own or to go out unaccompanied.
The Ahmed family denied this.
The jury took just over an hour to reach a verdict.
The prosecution had claimed the 28-year-old calmly snuffed out the life'' of her daughter, however the defence suggested the child died after choking on some bread.
Ian Duguid QC, defending, had urged the jury to return a verdict of acquittal.
Addressing members on Tuesday, he questioned the idea of an initial attempt at a cover-up and suggested that ''the truth might be that she really choked on bread''.
He told how everybody who was interviewed on the day in question ''was giving exactly the same story''.
''The easy answer, the obvious answer, is that she (the accused) is telling the truth and they are all telling the truth as well,'' he said of that time.
Charging the jury earlier on Wednesday, Lord Matthews said the case rested on circumstantial evidence.
He said: No crown witness has said they saw the accused putting the pillow over Inayah's face. The crown case is a circumstantial one.''
He added: If this was a death caused by bread you will acquit. If you are not satisfied that the accused placed a pillow over her head and killed her that way then that's the end of the crown case.''
Lord Matthews urged the jury to put their emotions aside when reaching a verdict.
He told them: This sort of trial will obviously raise strong emotions but the sort of considerations and sympathy for the accused or sympathy for Inayah must play no part in your deliberations.''
Ms Ahmed looked composed as the verdict was announced but appeared emotional as she left the court room.
Outside court Mrs Ahmed speaking though her lawyer Aamer Anwar said: “I died the day I lost my Inayah. Nothing will ever take the pain away.”
The statement by Mrs Ahmed also stated: “I loved her more than anything.
“The day she was born brought joy to my life which had become full of such suffering from the day I married. No-one can imagine the pain of a mother losing her baby. I will never see her smile or hold her in my arms. The nightmare did not end with her death, but continued with being accused of the most horrific crime possible the murder of one's child – my Inaya
“From the outset I have protested my innocence.”
During the statement given on behalf of Mrs Ahmed she was supported by her mother.
The Ahmed Family released a statement following today's verdict: 'On the 20th April 2016, our beautiful Inayah was taken from us. She had her whole life ahead of her and there is nothing anyone can do to bring her back. Our lives have been completely shattered with her absence and there isn't a single moment that goes by where she isn't missed.
The last 18 months have been the most difficult in our lives and as a family we have struggled to deal with our loss.
After today's verdict, we will need to find a way to move forward but Inayah will never be forgotten.
We would like to thank all those involved in supporting us and would ask that our privacy be respected during this difficult time.