A dad allegedly spoke of having 'sinned' and about his fear of dying as he acted 'weird' before he killed his baby son, his wife has claimed. Mehwish Mubashir said she became concerned about her partner Kadees Mohammed's behaviour in the 24 hour-period leading up to him inflicting fatal injuries to three-week-old Mohammed Ibrahim, a court has heard.
The 30-year-old denies murder, an alternative account of manslaughter as well as inflicting grievous bodily harm to his wife and mother. There is no dispute he attacked all three and caused the death of his baby son at their home in Dovey Road, Sparkhill in the early hours of October 18, last year, but he relies on the legal defence of 'insanity'.
Yesterday part of Ms Mubashir's video interview with the police was played to the trial at Birmingham Crown Court. She said Mohammed got up around 5am on October 17 and said he was going to morning prayers at the nearby mosque, which she described as 'unusual' as he only typically went later in the day.
She claimed when he returned he kept washing his hands over and over saying he had 'got a weird feeling I'm not clean'. Ms Mubashir said she encouraged her husband to get some rest and sleep while she looked after their two children.
Speaking to officers via an interpreter she said: "Normally he would talk to me nicely, personal things. That day he was very quiet. Didn't say much. In deep thought.
"I noticed his behaviour wasn't the same. I was thinking to myself is there something wrong? He's not normally like this. Then I thought to myself I will just see what happens."
Ms Mubashir told police that Mohammed's unusual behaviour continued after he returned from afternoon prayers around 1.30pm. She said: "He came back and was in deep thought. Pacing around in the room.
"I said to him 'Kadees what's the matter? What's happened?'. He said 'nothing I'm okay'. I felt like he wanted to say something to me but then he pulled back, became a bit nervous. I tried to reassure him 'please talk to me openly you can tell me anything we are together, one person, whatever you want to say you can say openly'.
"He said 'I will tell you'. When he tried to say something he would just stop. He has never been like that before. I insisted 'please tell me please tell me'. I held onto his hand.
"He said to me 'I'm getting weird thoughts in my head. Something is going on in my head'. He said to me 'I can't tell you because you will become upset'."
Ms Mubashir said that shortly afterwards Mohammed spoke of 'having sinned, having done something wrong' and that he had gone to the mosque to repent and feel nearer to God, the court heard. She added that he also described feeling like he was 'not a believer anymore' and 'pulled away from my faith'.
Ms Mubashir said she encouraged him to go to the park adding that she had become 'quite concerned about his behaviour', so she called Mohammed's sister in London.
She added: "I still felt he was talking weird. He looked different. I was trying to console him and reassure him everything was okay."
Ms Mubashir described a particular exchange she had with Mohammed when he returned from the park. She said: "He kept saying 'I'm not afraid of death, I'm not afraid of dying'. One minute he was saying he was not afraid of death the next minute he was saying he was really scared of dying."
Ms Mubashir told police that Mohammed went off to the mosque for a third time around 5pm and when he came back he started 'talking religious things' to his aunt, who had come around to their home out of concern.
She claimed that she spoke to a health worker on the phone about her husband's behaviour, before his sister and brother-in-law arrived around 7pm having driven up from London. Ms Mubashir said at one point that evening Mohammed got up and said: "I feel everything is burning inside of me. I feel my heart is sinking."
She said not long after that he seemed back to normal and said 'I'm really sorry I upset you'. Ms Mubashir told officers that after paramedics arrived and spoke to her husband it was agreed his sister and brother-in-law would drive him to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The court heard he arrived around 11pm but left around 40 minutes later after being told he faced up to a four-hour wait to be seen. Ms Mubashir then described what happened after he returned home and his sister and brother-in-law left to go back to their home in London.
"His character started changing again. When someone was in the house he's a different person then when he's on his own his character completely changed. Then he started talking about things he was saying in the morning. Islamic things. I just wanted him to leave that. Wanted to divert his attention. I just said you need to rest."
The prosecution case is that Mohammed killed his son around 3.30am, after which he struck Ms Mubashir and his mother Raqya Bi with an iron as they tried to stop him.
The trial continues...
