The father of a four-year-old Bradford boy whose mummified body was found in his mother’s bedroom has told a court how he was barred by his former partner from going into her house after raising concerns about his son’s welfare.
Aftab Khan was giving evidence at the trial of Amanda Hutton, 43, who is accused of the manslaughter of Hamzah Khan.
Hamzah’s body was discovered in a cot in Hutton’s then home in Bradford in September 2011.
A jury at Bradford Crown Court has heard how he had died almost two years earlier, in December 2009.
Mr Khan told the court how he had separated from Hutton after he was charged with assaulting her.
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He said he was initially stopped from visiting Hutton due to a court order but did start to go and see his son when they moved to a new home in Bradford in March 2009.
Mr Khan told the jury his former partner was not looking after Hamzah properly.
“I said ‘look at the state of him – you’re not looking after him’ and she told me to get out,” he told the jury.
The mechanic and taxi driver told the court that it was his concerns about his son that had led to the arguments resulting in his arrest in 2008 and eventual conviction for battery.
He said: “She wasn’t bathing him. She wasn’t changing him.”
And Mr Khan said he would only see Hutton feeding Hamzah milk. He said his former partner drank cider and vodka heavily, especially after the death of her mother.
“She’d be absolutely out of it,” he said.
Hutton, now of Farcliffe Road, Girlington, and who denies manslaughter, sat in the dock dressed in black, watching Mr Khan give his evidence.
The trial continues.
