This article contains key information about the case of seven year old Khyra Ishaq who died after allegedly being found emaciated by paramedics.
Khyra Ishaq, from Handsworth near Birmingham, died aged seven years old in May 2008. She was found with her five siblings in a reportedly emaciated state.
Khyra Ishaq's mother Angela Gordon and her mother's partner Junaid Abuhamza are to be charged with her death the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed in August. They were charged in May with "causing or allowing" her death between 9 and 17 May. They appeared at Birmingham Crown Court via a video link from separate prisons. The court heard that Abuhamza had lived at Gordon's home for around eight months and the couple were remanded until 1 September for a plea and case management over the earlier neglect charge.
However it emerged in July that Angela Gordon and Junaid Abuhamza would appear before magistrates on 15 July to face five joint charges of cruelty to a person under 16.
The assistant district crown prosecutor for Birmingham said: "The available evidence has been considered and it has been decided that there is sufficient evidence to charge the two defendants with the five additional charges of cruelty, one each in relation to the remaining children of the household."
Birmingham Council’s safeguarding children’s board have started the serious case review into Khyra Ishaq’s death. Each child protection agency will be carrying out internal management reviews to identify any gaps in procedures and processes which could have made a difference.
MP Khalid Mahmood for Birmingham Perry Barr has accused Birmingham Council’s children’s services department of “huge incompetence”. He claims the children were taken out of school 10 weeks ago and visited by an educational social worker, but no follow-up visits had been made. The council’s chief executive Stephen Hughes will keep Khalid Mahmood informed throughout the serious case review.
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