Updates as Kadees Mohammed stands trial accused of murdering three-week old baby in Sparkhill

Court ends for today

Mr Sandhu says when Mohammed was arrested he was heard 'rambling' and said he would 'kill himself and his mother if told to do so'. As he was booked into custody the defendant allegedly said 'I can't believe I killed my son'.

Mr Sandhu says Mohammed struggled to focus on the questions he was being asked and 'appeared fixated on becoming a better Muslim and devoting himself to Islam'.

The defendant was assessed as being fit to be detained and interviewed, the jury is told. Mr Sandhu says attempts to interview Mohammed the following day had to be abandoned 'because of the way the defendant continued to present'.

That concludes the prosecution opening. The case is adjourned until tomorrow morning.

Neighbour pushed defendant against wall to rescue baby - court told

Mr Sandhu tells the court that the neighbour decided he needed to remove Ibrahim from the defendant and pushed him against a wall. He says: "The defendant didn't release his hold of Ibrahim. He tried to prise the defendant's fingers away from Ibrahim. As he did, the defendant moved his open mouth towards Ibrahim's head. He was seen to bite Ibrahim to the head.

"Those who were present were able eventually to take Ibrahim away from the defendant."

The prosecutor tells the court that Mohammed resisted before he was forced onto a sofa, where he was found by the police when they arrived.

Mr Sandhu says one of the neighbours was a nurse and tried to give chest compressions to Ibrahim but could not detect a pulse. He adds that she continued until the ambulance arrived.

Neighbour heard 'screaming' from house

Mr Sandhu says the next-door neighbour heard a male screaming 'Allahu Akbar' and described him sounding 'out of control'.
He tells the court a female was heard shouting 'my baby' and about her 'son being dead' while a male was overheard saying 'I love you my baby'.

Mr Sandhu says the defendant's wife Mehwish Mubashir went to get help from a neighbour before returning home. He tells the court that the neighbour entered Mohammed's home.
Mr Sandhu: "He found the defendant kneeling on the floor. The defendant cradled Ibrahim. Ibrahim was still. In contrast, the defendant was shouting. He appeared to be aggressive and appeared to be out of control.

"He repeated 'I'm Mohammed, my baby is Mohammed'. The defendant appeared to be in the words of those who observed him 'crazy'. The defendant got up and walked out of the bedroom with Ibrahim. He held Ibrahim tightly. Others saw Ibrahim fall backwards. It was clear Ibrahim had head injuries. Ibrahim appeared to be lifeless."

Ibrahim left with multiple injuries after the attack

The defendant had subjected Ibrahim to severe forceful blows to the head. "Those repeated blows had resulted in Ibrahim's skull being fractured in several places. He died very quickly from the moment he sustained that severe trauma to his head.

"The force Ibrahim was subjected to was reflected by the multiple fractures to his rib cage likely to have been caused when the defendant squeezed Ibrahim."

Mohammed threw baby to the ground - court told

Mr Sandhu: "The defendant's wife ran out of the bedroom and into her mother-in-law's bedroom. The defendant ran after her. The defendant's wife and mother tried to stop the defendant from taking hold of the baby. However, the defendant never stopped. There was an iron in his mother's room.

"He took that iron with one hand and hit his mother to the head with it. She sustained a wound to her head as a result of that blow. Having done that the defendant grabbed baby Ibrahim. He flung Ibrahim around. At one point he threw Ibrahim to the ground.

"His wife told police who attended that the defendant also smacked Ibrahim into a wall. She tried to stop the defendant. The defendant used the iron he had to hit his wife in the head twice."

Defendant's behaviour continued to 'change'

Mr Sandhu says the defendant's wife noticed a further change in his behaviour at home and he started speaking about religion again as well as his intention to go to the mosque in the morning. "He spoke in particular of praying to repel the devil," he adds, as he tells the court the family eventually went to bed.

Mr Sandhu continues: "The defendant's wife woke around 3am on the 18th of October. She woke to find her baby son on the ground with the defendant kneeling over him. The defendant repeated the words 'God is great'. He repeated that as he held on to their son.

"By now Ibrahim was unresponsive. It is likely that the defendant had already subjected Ibrahim to severe force by this stage."

'Mohammed reassured paramedics he did not intend to hurt himself'

Mr Sandhu tells the jury that Mohammed reassured paramedics he did not intend to hurt himself and that he acknowledged his thoughts had been a delusion. Ultimately, arrangements were made for his sister and brother-in-law to take him to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital so he could be seen by the mental health crisis team, the court is told.

Mr Sandu says Mohammed's behaviour was 'odd' during the journey and he spoke about 'the end of time'. He tells the court they arrived at A&E at 11.05pm and were told they faced a four-hour wait. The prosecutor says the defendant sent a WhatsApp to his wife saying he 'had felt overwhelmed by a lot of intrusive thoughts'. Mohammed decided not to wait in A&E and was taken home, where he arrived shortly before midnight, the jury is told.

Mr Sandhu: "The defendant's sister and brother-in-law travelled back to London. As they were leaving the defendant told his sister to pray and to observe Islam. He said she should be more private and should wear a headscarf. He had been speaking about religion throughout the day."

Family told medics Mohammed had 'suicidal thoughts' - court told

The prosecutor says the defendant's sister and brother-in-law travelled up from London where they lived and arrived around 7.20pm. - He tells the court: "The defendant told them he was receiving signs from God and he was a prophet."

Mr Sandhu says the family called emergency services and Mohammed told the operator he had had suicidal thoughts because he had not slept and he 'felt low'. He states: "There was a point at which the defendant's mood changed. His wife thought when his mood changed he was behaving normally as indeed did his sister. When his mood changed he apologised to his wife for upsetting her."

Mr Sandhu says at 9.49pm Mohammed had sent a WhatsApp message to his friend saying he had a breakdown and felt suicidal for a few hours after having 'intrusive thoughts'.

Wife 'struggled to understand behaviour'

Mr Sandhu tells the court that Mohammed began to pray, prompting concerns from his wife who 'struggled to understand his behavior'. The jury is told the defendant's sister subsequently spoke to him on the phone and found him to be 'irrational' because he was talking about 'thoughts he couldn't control' and 'promonitions which were going to materialise'.

Mr Sandhu says Mohammed left for the mosque again at 4.36pm and returned home about 30 minutes later, by which time his brother-in-law had called 999. The prosecutor tells the court that Mohammed's aunt attended the home and noticed the defendant 'talking to himself'. Mr Sandhu says that his cousin also visited but Mohammed did not make eye contact with him.

He adds: "He was not talkative. He was moving his mouth as if chanting something but not speaking."

Mohammed had Grindr app on phone after cops seized evidence - court told

Mr Sandhu: "However, two days beforehand - October 15 - the defendant had downloaded the dating app Grindr. Subsequent analysis of his telephone, which was taken by the police as a part of the investigation, revealed material indicating the defendant was a man who struggled with sexuality."

He tells the court that Mohammed went out for a walk around 2.10pm and was out for about 45 minutes. Mr Sandhu says: "The defendant remained quiet when he returned home. His wife told him she was concerned about him and was going to telephone his sister. The defendant was irritated. He didn't want his wife to tell his sister about him.

"In a later conversation with his wife he said he was scared about death. He alternated between telling her he was scared of dying and on the other hand he was not scared of dying."

Mohammed quizzed by wife to 'open up' after appearing to be in 'deep thought'

Mr Sandhu continues: "The defendant was quiet. He appeared to be deep in thought. During the latter part of the morning of the 17th, the defendant was seen, albeit briefly, by a neighbour to whom the defendant appeared to be normal. "The defendant left the home address again and did so shortly before 1.30pm.

"He went to the mosque again. As with the earlier visit to the mosque he remained there about 15 minutes before he walked home. At home, he remained deep in thought. He paced around. His wife asked him whether anything was wrong. He said there was not.

"She tried to get him to open up and speak to her but he either would not do so or could not do so. He told her he was experiencing weird thoughts which he couldn't tell her about because those thoughts would upset her. He told her he had thoughts of having sinned. He said the thoughts were worrying him. He said he was going to the mosque so he could repent. He didn't say what the thoughts were about. He did say that they were contrary to his faith."

Family became concerned about the defendant - jury told

Mr Sandhu says in July and August 2022 the defendant's family became concerned about him.
He tells the court: "He became fixated with the thought he might be suffering Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). At around the time of Ibrahim's birth, the defendant said he was having difficulty sleeping."

Mr Sandhu moves to the events of October 17, 2022. He says the defendant woke up around 5am and began to pray, before he walked a few minutes to a nearby mosque shortly before 7am.
"That for the defendant was unusual. His wife said while he went to the mosque in the day ordinarily, he didn't as a matter of course go in the morning. However, he woke her up and told her he was going. He remained at the mosque for about 15 minutes before he walked home.

"When he walked home he washed his hands repeatedly. He told his wife he felt he was not clean. When he was at home he managed to feed and to change his baby son. But otherwise his interaction with his family was limited."

Defendant was perfectly pleasant and no problems - court told

Mr Sandhu tells the court Mohammed Ibrahim was born on September 27, 2022 and died three weeks later. He takes the jury through a family tree.

Mr Sandhu says: "It seems to those who encountered the defendant and his family they were all perfectly pleasant and that there were no problems associated with them. Their neighbours considered them to be friendly. The defendant appeared to be content. He seemed happily married.

"He appeared to be a doting father and he is a man who had a career as a civil servant. He was an analyst for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The family appeared to be happy with Ibrahim's birth. He was visited by a health visitor on October 9. He was assessed and he appeared to be well cared for. The health visitor didn't have any concerns."

'The defendant's mother also tried to stop the defendant,' court told

Mr Sandhu: "The defendant's mother Raqya Bi also tried to stop the defendant. The defendant attacked her with an iron too, and caused her really serious harm.

"As you know there's no dispute that the defendant killed his infant son and nor is there any dispute that he caused really serious injury to his wife and to his mother. The issue in this case will centre on the defendant's mental state in the early hours of October 18, 2022."

Mr Sandhu turns to the background to the events which he states took place in a house at Dovey Road, Birmingham. He takes the jury through plans of the property and tells them that they will be concerned with what happened in two bedrooms on the first floor.

'Ibrahim's mother tried to stop the defendant', court told

Now, prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu stands to begin his opening of the case.

He says: "In the early hours of October 18 of last year the defendant Kadees Mohammed killed his then three-week-old son Mohammed Ibrahim.

"He did so by using severe force against him. As he was using severe force against Ibrahim, Ibrahim's mother, the defendant's wife Mehwish Mubashir, tried to stop the defendant.

"The defendant attacked her with an iron and caused really serious injury."

Mohammed 'accepts he killed Ibrahim' and that he 'relies on a defence of insanity' - judge

Good afternoon and thankyou for joining us. The jury was selected earlier today.

Justice Steyn addressed them as to why Mohammed was not physically present in court. She said: "As you see the defendant is not in the dock. I have given him permission to attend the trial via a video link from the Tamarind Centre, a secure psychiatric hospital where he is currently being treated."

The judge also stated that Mohammed 'accepts he killed Ibrahim' and that he 'relies on a defence of insanity'. Justice Steyn said: "Legal insanity is a distinct concept different from what a lay person may think of insanity. It is a legal term used to describe the effect of a medical condition on the function of the mind. It does not have to be permanent or incurable. It may be temporary and curable."