GLASGOW mother Sadia Ahmed has been cleared of murdering her 14-month-old daughter after a jury at the High Court found claims she had smothered the girl with a pillow not proven.
Ahmed, 28, had been accused of murdering baby Inayah in their Drumchapel home on April 17 last year. The child died in hospital three days later.
Prosecutors said Ahmed had “calmly snuffed out the life” of her daughter, but her defence lawyer Ian Duguid QC, said the toddler had choked on toast.
Addressing members on Tuesday, he dismissed Crown claims of a cover-up and suggested that "the truth might be that she really choked on bread’’.
He told how everybody who was interviewed on the day in question "was giving exactly the same story’’.
‘"The easy answer, the obvious answer, is that she [the accused] is telling the truth and they are all telling the truth as well,’’ he said .
Charging the jury earlier on Wednesday, Lord Matthews said the case rested on circumstantial evidence.
He said: “No Crown witness has said they saw the accused putting the pillow over Inayah’s face. The Crown case is a circumstantial one.”
He added: “If this was a death caused by bread you will acquit.
"If you are not satisfied that the accused placed a pillow over her head and killed her that way then that’s the end of the Crown case.”
Lord Matthews urged the jury to put their emotions aside when reaching a verdict.
He told them: “This sort of trial will obviously raise strong emotions but the sort of considerations and sympathy for the accused or sympathy for Inaya must play no part in your deliberations.”
It took the jury of eight women and seven men just an hour to come back with a majority not proven verdict.
Outside the court, Ahmed’s solicitor, Aamer Anwar, read out a statement on her behalf.
“The short times I got to spend with my daughter Inayah will forever be the most cherished moments of my life.
“She passed away on April 20 last year at an age of just 14 months.
"The day she was born brought joy to my life, which had become full of such suffering since the day I was married.
“No one can imagine the pain of a mother losing her baby. I will never see her smile again or be able to hold her in my arms.
“The nightmare did not end with her death but continued with being accused of the most horrific crime possible – the murder of one’s child, my Inayah.”
Ahmed added: “I loved her more than anything in this world and always will.
“From the outset, I have protested my innocence and am grateful to my legal team for all their hard work and fighting for the right verdict today. But my life is over – I died the day I lost my Inaya. Nothing will ever take that pain away.”
Members of Ahmed’s husband’s family had accused Sadia of murder.
Yesterday, after the verdict, in a statement, the family said: “On the 20th April 2016, our beautiful Inayah was taken from us.
"She had her whole life ahead of her and there is nothing anyone can do to bring her back.
"Our lives have been completely shattered with her absence and there isn’t a single moment that goes by where she isn’t missed.
“The last 18 months have been the most difficult in our lives and as a family we have struggled to deal with out loss. After today’s verdict we will need to find a way to move forward but Inayah will never be forgotten.”
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