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PA Media
Both defendants had denied the charges at Coventry Crown Court
A couple whose severely malnourished son's body was found buried in the garden of their former home have been jailed.
Three-year-old Abiyah's body was found behind a house in Birmingham, nine months after Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah's, 42 and 43, had been evicted from the property.
Last week, the pair were were found guilty of causing the death of Abiyah, whose body was found at the house in Clarence Road, Handsworth.
Tai Yasharahyalah was jailed for 24-and-a-half years and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah was given 19-and-a-half years at Coventry Crown Court on Thursday.
During an eight-week trial, the court heard that the couple lived off grid and created their own bespoke belief system based on a mixture of elements that drew from New Age mysticism and West African religion.
West Midlands Police
Abiyah Yasharahyalah would have been about three years and nine months old when he died
After the death of Abiyah, they kept his body inside their home for eight days, before embalming the body using frankincense and myrrh prior to a ritualistic burial in their garden.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Wall their son died "as a result of your wilful neglect of him."
He said the three-year-old had a "catalogue of injury and disease" at the time of his death.
The couple heard that the judge was "sure" they they both realised how unwell their son was prior to his death.
During the trial, jurors were told the couple were evicted from the Birmingham home in March 2022 before police found their son's body in December that year.
After he was exhumed, Abiyah was found to have been in a severely malnourished state and suffered from a list of other health problems at the time of his death.
These included bone fractures, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth and severe dental decay.
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