Mother more likely to have murdered Tahani: Lawyer

Tabbasum Mahomed appears in the Auckland High Court. Photo / Greg Bowker

A mother accused of failing to provide the necessaries of life for her 11-week old daughter was more likely to have caused her death than her murder-accused husband, a court was told today.

Tahani Mahomed was admitted to hospital with severe head injuries on December 28, 2007. She died on New Year's Day .

Her South African-born parents were unable to explain how their daughter had been hurt.

The baby's father, Azees Mahomed, 31, is accused of murder and two counts of causing his baby grievous bodily harm - in one instance breaking her leg by apparently twisting it violently and in the other by inflicting head injuries that caused brain damage.

He faces an additional charge of failing to provide the necessaries of life.

His wife Tabbasum, 26, also faces this charge, but is not accused of murder.

Defence lawyer Chris Wilkinson-Smith, representing Azees Mahomed, made his closing submissions to the jury today.

"Whatever you think about the Mahomed's parenting, it's not going to get you any closer to answering the real question of who harmed Tahani," Mr Wilkinson-Smith said.

Tabbasum Mahomed was more likely to be responsible for Tahani's death than her husband, as she spent a lot more time with her baby, Mr Wilkinson-Smith said.

She had admitted to a doctor that she "gave her baby a fright", which was the reason her head was swelling.

"Tabbasum was an over-burdened mum who already had a one-year-old child. It was a highly stressful and difficult time.

"It only takes a couple of seconds to inflict that sort of injury. And we know that she was there all through the night.

"She was under considerable stress and was not coping. Tahani was a demanding baby," Mr Wilkinson-Smith said.

Closing the case for the Crown, prosecutor Phil Hamlin told the jury that in 11 days they had heard about the 11 weeks of the life of Tahani Mahomed.

Mr Hamlin told the jury two things were very certain -- that Tahani Mahomed died from non accidental injuries, and that one or both of the accused were lying to the police about what happened.

"They put their minds together as a cover-up to come up with this concocted story you've heard," Mr Hamlin told the jury.

The crown case was that Azees Mahomed was responsible for his daughter's death, and he was responsible for his daughter's murder.

Mrs Mahomed was very complicit in helping cover this up, Mr Hamlin said.

He told the jury the child had suffered previous injuries, including a broken leg and a brain haemorrhage and she was also found to be malnourished.

"Not feeding the child shows the parents did not care about Tahani because she was in the way. Tahani was deprived and she was beaten at 11 weeks old.

"They left her in a car by herself while they went about their business. Her life was nasty, brutish and short. This baby was not wanted, not loved, and not fed. Tahani was an inconvenient baby," Mr Hamlin said.

Defence lawyer Paul Borich, representing Tabbasum Mahomed, made his closing submissions to the jury.

He told them they had to be sure beyond reasonable doubt that Tabbasum Mahomed was guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life if they were to convict her.

"That doesn't mean you think she's guilty, or she's probably guilty or she's very likely to be guilty. You have to be sure, based on a proper, calm and rational analysis, putting aside emotions.

"If you do all of that you will come to the conclusion that the Crown have failed to prove this charge against her," Mr Borich said.

He advised the jury to leave their sympathy and prejudice at the door when they retired to consider their verdicts tomorrow.

- NZPA