Mother jailed for keeping now-dead baby in 'squalor'

Fartun Jamal, 25, of Kingfisher Way, Brent, was jailed for five years and six months at Harrow Crown Court on Friday, April 29.

She was found guilty at the same court on Friday, March 4 of causing the death of Nafahat Diini as well as three counts of child cruelty following a trial.

Upon opening the front door to the property, the officers commented on a strong smell of urine coming from inside.

In the bedroom where Nafahat was found, there was human faeces smeared on the walls and window. Nafahat’s cot had a broken and collapsed side and contained several blankets and duvets. The cot and bedding were all soaked in urine. The cot itself was a travel cot and was not a suitable bed for a child of Nafahat’s age.

In Jamal’s bedroom, officers found mouse droppings on her mattress and human faeces on the walls.

Several of the rooms contained carrier bags full of dirty nappies and plates of rotting food.

Officers searched the kitchen and found hardly any food. The only items in the fridge were two bottles of milk that were nearly empty. In the broken freezer was a melted carton of ice cream. On the windowsill was a container of cooked and congealed pasta that was being used as an ash tray.

Jamal told officers that she had offered Nafahat formula milk earlier that morning but she had refused it. However, officers found no formula milk in the flat.

There were no photos of Nafahat in the property and no toys were found.

The doctor who pronounced Nafahat dead told officers it was a case of neglect.

Jamal was arrested on suspicion of neglect and answered no comment to all questions. Detectives spent months working around the clock to secure evidence against Jamal and as a result she was charged on December 17 2020 and convicted as above.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a respiratory tract infection (bronchitis complicated with pneumonia).