“This one event has ripped my life apart"
Kamran Haider, aged 39, of Ilford, received a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend’s baby.
He attacked 16-month-old Nusayba Umar on September 13, 2019, just weeks after meeting her mother on a dating website.
Haider lived with his mother in a four-bedroom house and was an unlicensed dog breeder.
He met Asiyah Amazir on a dating website in August 2019 and she effectively moved in to help with his dog breeding business.
At first, Ms Amazir was not too concerned about Haider’s behaviour, despite him being “verbally aggressive” and “snappy” at times.
The Old Bailey heard that just over a fortnight before the fatal attack, her daughter Nusayba suffered a separate head injury while in Haider’s care.
Haider told Ms Amazir her daughter had fallen over in the kitchen while he was outside feeding his dogs.
It was alleged that he went on to become increasingly threatening towards the mother and baby.
He put Nusayba in a corner, hit her on the hand during “time out” and made her adopt various “stress positions”.
Edward Brown QC, prosecuting, said that if Ms Amazir tried to intervene, he would slap her.
On September 13, Ms Amazir was tending to the dogs when she heard her daughter crying.
As she went towards her room, she heard Haider tell Nusayba to “shut up”. This was followed by a slapping sound and a “yelp” from the baby.
Afterwards, the baby did not seem to herself, but there were no obvious signs of injury.
At around 5 pm, Nusayba began having a fit and Haider suggested to his girlfriend that she take the infant to her home to “relax”.
Instead, Ms Amazir called an ambulance from the bus stop at the end of the road.
She falsely told the operator that her daughter started having a fit on a bus. She later revealed that she was scared of Haider.
Nusayba was rushed to hospital but her condition did not improve. On September 17, she died due to catastrophic brain injuries.
During the trial, it was revealed that Haider had a history of violence, attacking an ex-girlfriend and abusing her children to “teach them a lesson”.
He denied any responsibility but was found guilty of murder and child cruelty.
Mr Brown said Nusayba’s death was caused by “violent shaking” and impact.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Amazir said:
“Nusayba was subjected to the most horrible experiences at the hands of this man towards the end of her life.
“I will never forget the events that led to her death for as long as I live.
“I vividly remember the things she suffered, and that noise she made on the last day of her life will haunt me forever.”
The baby’s father added: “This one event has ripped my life apart and I will never recover.
“When I go to bed at night, I wonder what I could have done differently to have avoided this.”
Haider refused to attend his sentencing. In his absence, he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said: “This was not an accident; it was a gross breach of trust by an adult towards an utterly dependent baby.
“Kamran Haider is 39 years old and has old and relatively minor previous convictions, but I am satisfied so I am sure that he is someone who has a propensity to seek to control and abuse women and children who come into his sphere of influence.”
Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith called Haider a “controlling and violent man” who was “prone to bouts of extreme aggression and violence”.
He said: “Nusayba bore the brunt of that violence on the day she was entrusted in Haider’s care and she suffered an attack that would lead to the end of her life.”
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