Watch: Child cruelty couple who starved and buried their own son shout at police during welfare check
Bodycam footage released by police shows child cruelty duo Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah arguing with police as officers searched their home, all while their son's body lay buried in the back garden.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
A video, released by West Midlands Police, has shown an argument between the pair and police as officers searched their home in Clarence Road, Handsworth, in September 2021, 19 months after their three-year-old son died.
Then in December of 2022 bodycam footage captured a confrontation at a caravan in Somerset where the couple were living, and where they were arrested.
Following a two-month trial, held at Coventry Crown Court, the due were found guilty of causing or allowing the death of their son, Abiyah Yasharahyalah, as well as further charges of perverting the course of justice and child cruelty.
The trial was told that Abiyah died in January 2020 after suffering a respiratory illness, at a time when he was suffering from bone fractures, severe malnutrition, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth and severe dental decay.
During the welfare search of their home in Clarence Road, the London-born Tai told police "you have no power in my realm".
He accused police of "trespassing" in his "kingdom of Yasharahyalah".
The police at the time were unaware of the child's death 19 months earlier, or that the child's remains were buried on the property.
When asked if any children were living in the property, Tai responded: "We have the right to remain silent. I am a citizen of Yasharahyalah - you have no jurisdiction in my realm."
After being informed that officers were carrying out checks after concerns for people living at the property, Tai told them that his son's whereabouts was none of the officers' business.
Tai was eventually arrested for obstructing police, however, a mix-up related to records relating to the address meant that an inquiry into Abiyah's whereabouts was not launched.
In the video, released by West Midlands Police, the couple could also been seen in their caravan in 2022, where Naiyahmi asked the officers to leave, saying "I do not require your services."
The couple were eventually arrested in December 2022 while living in a caravan in Somerset.
