Moment cops missed likelihood to search out physique of ‘severely malnourished’ three-year-old boy buried in backyard by vegan mother and father – earlier than arresting them in squalid ‘off’ grid caravan the place couple fled a 12 months later
This is the moment police raided the home of tragic Abiyah Yasharahyalah – a year before his body was found buried in the back garden.
Officers from West Midlands Police visited Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah’s Birmingham home in September 2021 following a ‘safe and well’ call from Citizen Housing.
But when asked where their son Abiyah was, Tai told officers it was ‘not your business’.
He was in fact buried in the garden, having died suffering from malnutrition around January 2020.
When they visited the terraced home, the police officers noted there was no bread or milk in the fridge and coconuts were the only available sustenance.
In body worn footage from played to the jury, Tai can be seen shouting at the two officers, telling them he and his wife are ‘sovereign citizens’ unwilling to comply with the laws of the land.
In the footage he can be seen getting increasingly angry as they ask him who is at the property and where his son is.
Naiyahmi (left) and Tai Yasharahyalah (right) arrive at Coventry Crown Court last Thursday
When Abiyah fell ill with the symptoms of a cold, the couple treated him with natural remedies
A sign on the front door banned anyone from ‘making contact with any member of this house’
Tai tells them ‘I don’t have to answer any of your questions’, accusing them of trespassing.
The footage shows inside the couple’s messy home, where Abiyah died, which is painted in purple and pink with sheets up at the windows.
When Tai is told that the officers have concerns about the whereabouts of the child he shouts: ‘I don’t have to engage as I am in my sovereign capacity. This is my space’.
Naiyahmi, who can be seen lying in bed, also refuses to say where her son is.
In the chaotic clip, Tai can be heard shouting: ‘We have renounced our citizenship.’
They are repeatedly asked if there is a child here to which Tai replies: ‘My child is non of your business’
He is then arrested for obstructing police and continues to rant about officers coming into the house as he is taken away in handcuffs.
Squalid conditions inside the Yasharahyalahs’ property in Handsworth, Birmingham
There was no milk or bread in the fridge at the couple’s house, West Midlands Police said
The interior of the property in Handsworth, Birmingham, where the Yasharahyalahs lived
Tai had also put a notice on the door banning anyone from ‘making contact with any member of this house’.
Tai and his wife Naiyahmi were later evicted from the house over unpaid rent and moved first to a shipping container and before moving into a caravan at an ‘off grid’ site in Glastonbury.
They have now been found guilty of causing or allowing the death of Abiyah, whose skeletal remains were eventually discovered in December 2022 in the garden of the property.
A trial at Coventry Crown Court was told that Abiyah died after a respiratory illness in January 2020, at a time when he was suffering from bone fractures, severe malnutrition, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth and severe dental decay.
Jurors also convicted Tai and Naiyahmi of child cruelty by failing to provide adequate nutrition or summon medical care, and perverting the course of justice by burying Abiyah.
A guitar balance on a radiator and a chair covered in junk at the Yasharahyalahs’ home
Police visited Tai Yasharahyalah at the property in Handsworth for a ‘safe and well’
Bags on top of a mattress at the Yasharahyalahs’ property in Handsworth, Birmingham
Prosecutors alleged it would have been obvious to both defendants, who had their own belief system including a ‘restrictive’ vegan diet which also left them with health problems, that Abiyah was in considerable pain before his death.
Former fitness instructor Tai Yasharahyalah told the trial he now accepts he was neglectful towards Abiyah but did not realise at the time that his son needed any medical care.
His wife also denied acting ‘wilfully’ in failing to summon medical help, claiming Abiyah’s body was buried in the hope he might be ‘born again’ and not in order to hide the death from the authorities.
She also maintained that she did not think about going to a doctor because she had ‘renounced her citizenship’ and was ‘not contracted to the state’.
Pictures show the dirty, cramped conditions, with cupboards overflowing and clothes strewn all over, as well as two buckets on the floor – one of which contained frozen urine.
The other was empty but contained the remnants of faeces and sawdust. The small amount of carpet on the floor was saturated with urine.
Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah lived ‘off grid’ at this caravan in Glastonbury, Somerset
Pictures from West Midlands Police show the dirty, cramped conditions in the caravan
Cupboards were overflowing and clothes were strewn all over the couple’s caravan
Prosecutors said the caravan was cold, dirty, cramped and foul smelling
The court was told that the caravan in Glastonbury was ‘clearly not fit for habitation’
The small amount of carpet on the floor of the caravan was saturated with urine
There were two buckets on the caravan floor – one of which contained frozen urine
Knives and USB devices were among the items recovered by police from the caravan
Fruit and vegetables in the fridge and the oven in the caravan are pictured
The Yasharahyalahs lived ‘off grid’ at the site in Glastonbury after leaving Birmingham
One bucket in the caravan was empty but contained the remnants of faeces and sawdust
Pictures released by West Midlands Police show the dirty and cramped conditions
A camera was discovered within the caravan where the couple were residing
An Apple Mac laptop and packaging from fast fashion brand Shein were also found
Prosecutors said the caravan was cold, dirty, cramped and foul smelling and ‘clearly not fit for habitation’.
But there was also an Apple Mac laptop, a camera and packaging from fast fashion brand Shein as well as fruit and vegetables in the fridge.
When asked about their diet in the caravan, Naiyahmi said they ate potato, bread and vegetables, kale, broccoli, avocado, tomatoes, crackers, honey, potatoes and sweet potatoes.
She told police in interview they also ate ‘sauces and mustard as well, and lots of pear … apples … one time we had lettuce, so it just depended on what he brought back [from Aldi] at the time.
‘Some farmers bring kale by, like the friends from the community … and I think bread was donated by someone.’
