Mum charged with homicide after 18-day-old child fell 32ft from Westminster window
Baby Mariam plunged from a third-floor flat window in Westminster, central London, on Saturday. Her mother, Zahira Byjaouane, 43, has been charged with murder and appeared at the Old Bailey
A forensic investigator at the scene near the junction of Great Peter Street and Horseferry Road in Westminster(Image: PA)
An 18-day-old baby girl sustained a fatal head injury after she was allegedly hurled from a window by her mother, a court has been told.
Baby Mariam plummeted from a sash window at her family’s third-floor flat in Westminster, central London, on Saturday. On Wednesday, her mother Zahira Byjaouane, 43, was scheduled to appear at the Old Bailey, charged with her murder, but was unable to attend the hearing.
Setting out the facts, prosecutor Philip McGhee said the defendant’s husband had dialled 999 at 7.30am on Saturday and reported that a child had fallen from a window.
London Ambulance Service and police arrived within minutes and discovered baby Mariam lying on a concrete surface between the block of flats on Great Peter Street and a high metal railing.
Mariam was rushed to hospital in a “critical condition”, having plummeted approximately 10 metres, or 32 feet, from the upstairs window, the court was told.
She died in hospital at 9am having sustained a fracture to the skull, Mr McGhee said.
Police entered the flat and found Byjaouane sitting on a bed.
She was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and then charged with murder the following day.
The baby’s father was present in the flat but was said to have been in the kitchen preparing baby formula when the defendant allegedly threw the baby from a sash window.
Mr McGhee said the husband had rushed outside and tried unsuccessfully to reach Mariam before returning inside and calling 999. During the hearing, Judge Mark Lucraft KC established a schedule for the case, setting a plea hearing for June 3 and a provisional 10-day trial before him commencing on February 15, 2027.
The judge ordered the defendant to be held in custody.
