A man has been jailed for the brutal murder of a 16-month-old girl in Ilford.
On Monday, Syed Mohammed Kamran Haider, 40, of Ilford, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of child cruelty and the murder of Nusayba Bint-Umar.
At the same court on Wednesday he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years for Nusayba’s murder and 18 months’ imprisonment for child cruelty against her. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Detectives found that Nusayba’s mother had been in a relationship with Haider which had begun in August 2019 after they met on a dating website.
She and Nusayba had moved into Haider’s address with the promise of financial reward for helping him rear puppies.
However the relationship was instead littered with episodes of domestic violence and threats towards Nusayba’s mother.
On the afternoon of August 28, 2019, Nusayba was left in the care of Haider while her mother went to an appointment. While she was out she received a call from Haider who said Nusayba had hurt herself.
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Her mother returned home and found Nusayba with a serious injury to her head and swelling.
She tried to call an ambulance but Haider refused, suggesting that she should instead collect a baby pen to put Nusayba in rather than her walking around.
However, a taxi was called and Nusayba’s mother went with her to an east London hospital where she was admitted and stayed overnight. She was discharged the following day and Nusayba’s mother tried in vain to arrange alternative accommodation for her.
On September 13, 2019, all three were at home when the mother heard Nusayba crying upstairs. She heard the sound of a slap after Haider had told Nusayba to “shhh” and he then brought her downstairs.
Nusayba’s mother grew increasingly concerned for her welfare. She left the property and went to a bus stop where she called an ambulance.
The London Ambulance Service attended and Nusayba was rushed to hospital. She was treated before being transferred to a specialist hospital in central London.
Haider was arrested on suspicion of GBH and taken into custody. He was then released on bail and later released under investigation.
Nusayba remained critically ill until she died in hospital at 6pm on September 17, 2019.
A post-mortem examination found the cause of her death to be a traumatic head injury. This is suspected to have been inflicted by Haider on September 13.
Haider was charged in September 2020 following extensive medical enquiries. He appeared at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court in December 2020, where he was remanded in custody.
Nusayba’s father said: “This one event has ripped my life apart and I will never recover. This statement is made sometime after this happened. The time passing has gone no way to make me feel better. I do not sleep. I have managed to start eating, albeit I lost around 15kg in weight when she died.
“When I go to bed at night, I wonder what I could have done differently to have avoided this. I had dreamed of my daughter growing into a good Muslim, this was taken away by the events that unfolded.”
Nusayba’s mother said: “Nusayba was subjected to the most horrible experiences at the hands of this man towards the end of her life. I will never forget the events that led to her death for as long as I live. I vividly remember the things she suffered and that noise she made on the last day of her life will haunt me forever.
“There are also the other more obvious effects of this awful crime committed against my daughter. Things like I will never get to see her grow up, hear her first full sentence, see her first day at school, her first tooth loss, her first proper tantrum and all of the other beautiful milestones that a mother witnesses throughout her children’s lives.
“I will never get to hold her again or kiss her tiny hands, tickle her, put her in a pretty dress or buy her a toy that I know she wants, all of the most benign and underrated things that most take for granted as parents. These have been taken from me and cannot be given back.
“Something as simple as changing her nappy or doing her laundry is now a heart breaking memory for me and these are just some of the life-long impacts of this crime that I’m able to verbalise.
“There are a million more things I am not able to think of words for, to be able to really explain the immediate and life-long impacts of my daughter being murdered, not just for me but also for the rest of her family and we will have to live with these things for the rest of our lives.”
Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith, who led the investigation, said: “Haider is a controlling and violent man who is prone to bouts of extreme aggression and violence. Nusayba bore the brunt of that violence on the day she was entrusted in his care and she suffered an attack that would lead to the end of her life.
“What happened on 13 September has never been fully established. But it is beyond doubt that the injuries inflicted on her could not have been accidental and were caused by Haider.
“Nusayba’s mother and family will grieve for many, many years as a result of this harrowing case. We will continue to support her however we can.
“I’d like to praise my officers who have worked so hard to present the case against Haider which has led to his conviction. It is right that he now faces decades behind bars where he can reflect on the consequences of his deplorable actions.”
