I held dead son for hours says Bradford mum who ‘kept body for two years’

A WEST Yorkshire mother accused of starving her four-year-old child to death has told a jury that she held her dead son for hours on the night he died.

By The Newsroom Tuesday, 1st October 2013, 1:29 pm

Amanda Hutton at Bradford Crown Court. Picture: Ross Parry Agency

Amanda Hutton fought back tears as she recalled how she found Hamzah Khan dead in her bedroom.

Bradford Crown Court has heard that Hamzah died in December 2009 but his body was not found for almost two years.

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His mummified remains were discovered in a cot in Hutton’s bedroom in her Bradford house in September 2011.

Amanda Hutton at Bradford Crown Court. Picture: Ross Parry Agency

She told the jury today she was at Morrisons supermarket when she got a call from her grown-up son Tariq to say Hamzah’s eyes were rolling back into his head.

Hutton, 43, said: “I rushed upstairs to my bedroom and found Hamzah had passed away.

“I picked him up and checked all his pulse points and there was nothing.

“I tried to give him mouth-to-mouth but that wasn’t working.”

She said: “I picked him up from my bed and put him over my shoulder and brown vomit came out of him, from his mouth.”

Hutton said wanted to call the police but Tariq stopped her.

Asked why, she said: “I’m not sure.”

Hutton was asked what she did after Hamzah died.

“I stayed in my bedroom all night with him,” she said.

“I held him for hours.”

Hutton gave her evidence in a quiet voice, facing the jury in a black skirt, black top and black cardigan.

She denies manslaughter.

Hutton said she began drinking heavily after Hamzah’s death. She said she slept on the sofa.

Hutton said: “I just didn’t know what to do.”

She agreed that she had continued to claim child benefit for Hamzah after his death.

But Hutton told the jury this was because she thought questions would be asked if she stopped claiming.

Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, asked her: “You had a four-and-a-half-year-old child that fitted into a baby-gro for a six to nine-month-old baby, that hadn’t been eating and you didn’t seek medical attention for him.”

The prosecutor showed the defendant a photograph of the baby-gro Hamzah’s body was found in, as he asked the question.

She replied: “No I didn’t.”

Mr Greaney asked her whether she thought this was a breach of the responsibility she had for her child.

Hutton said she believed Hamzah would grow out of his eating problems, just like his elder brother, Qaiser, who is now an adult.

Hutton denied drinking heavily before Hamzah’s death. Mr Greaney said to her: “For a substantial period before Hamzah died drinking was more important to you than his welfare.”

Hutton replied: “No, that’s not true.”

The prosecutor said: “You cared more about alcohol than you did about that child.”

Hutton said: “Not at all.”

She denied locking Hamzah in a room in the dark as a punishment.

Mr Greaney said: “Not only did you neglect him, you abused him.”

She replied: “No, never.”

Hutton also denied referring to Hamzah as a “silly bastard”.

Mr Greaney asked the defendant: “Do you accept he died because he was malnourished?”

She shook her head and said: “Without sounding flippant, I’m not an expert. I don’t know the cause.”

Hutton added: “I don’t think he did. I’m not sure.”

Hutton told the jury the history of her relationship with Aftab Khan - Hamzah’s father.

She said she started seeing Mr Khan when she was about 16 or 17 years old, and that he was violent towards her, sometimes constantly.

Asked by Stephen Meadowcroft QC, defending, why she stayed with Mr Khan, she said: “Because I loved him.”

Hutton wiped away tears and reached for tissues when she was asked about the death of her mother in December 2005.

Earlier, the jury was told what police found at Hutton’s home in September 2011.

Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, said the kitchen fridge was examined.

“The top portion of the fridge contained only rotten food,” he said.

“The bottom shelf contained a mixture of ready-prepared food - ready meals - all with an expiry date of March 2011.

“All of them were five months out of date.

“Mould was visible on most foodstuffs and on the doors of the fridge.”

Mr Greaney said the oven contained a take-away box and a rotting pizza slice was inside it.

He said the freezer was difficult to open because of the amount of rubbish in the kitchen.

Mr Greaney was reading out formal admissions put before the jury of eight men and four women today.