A heartless dad who caused the death of his three-year-old son and then buried his body in his garden has been attacked twice in prison. Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah, aged 42 and 43, displayed no visible emotion in the dock as the judge declared they had both "played a part in starving" Abiyah Yasharahyalah when it would have been clear he required medical attention.

The High Court judge at Coventry Crown Court sentenced Tai to 24-and-a-half years and Naiyahmi, who appeared in court donning a white fur-style coat, to 19-and-a-half years. Mr Justice Wall stated that the absence of any photos of the boy in the last four months of his life was "a clear sign that you realised by then how sick he was."

The pair were sentenced on Thursday, a week after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice, causing or allowing the death of a child, and what was termed as "breathtaking" child neglect.

Before sentencing, the court heard that Tai had suffered assaults since his remand in custody. Charles Sherrard KC, representing Tai, informed the court of two attacks, one occurring in a holding area while Tai was en route to court. The former fitness instructor appeared in the dock with a two-inch linear red mark between his eyebrows. 

Bernard Tetlow KC, defending the dad at Coventry Crown Court today, said: "Finally this, the prison is of course a very difficult place for anyone - but particularly those in a case such as this. Unfortunately Mr Yasharahyalah has already been, in the short time he's been in custody, attacked twice, once on his way to this court today.

"He's got a scar on his forehead from that attack whilst he was in the lobby area waiting for transport. I know it's difficult to reflect these things but inevitably it's going to be a difficult regime."

A two-month trial revealed that Abiyah died in early 2020 from a respiratory illness, with severe malnourishment leading to rickets, anaemia and stunted growth being a significant factor in his death. The jury also learned that London-born Tai, a medical genetics graduate who also went by the name Tai-Zamarai, and former shop worker Naiyahmi rejected mainstream society and left Abiyah’s body buried at their Handsworth, Birmingham property when they were evicted in March 2022.

Mr Justice Wall, delivering the sentence to the parents, declared: "Abiyah died as a result of your wilful neglect of him. He was severely stunted in his growth – at almost four years of age he was buried in the clothes of an 18-month-old. I accept that there was no deliberate infliction of physical injury by either of you." However, he stressed: "It is difficult to imagine a worse case of neglect than that which the court has encountered in this case."

Mr Justice Wall said the fact the couple had taken no photographs of the boy in the last four months of his life was "a clear sign that you realised by then how sick he was." Sentencing the cruel pair, said: "You were driven to develop this system by your distrust of big pharma and other Western organisations. You came to believe that any contact with the authorities would result in your data being obtained and misused in ways which you were not convincingly able to explain in evidence.

"By the time of Abiyah's exhumation there was nothing left but his skeleton. You both claimed in evidence that Abiyah was happy and healthy right up until his last short illness. That was simply untrue. Many of the signs of his disease were obvious. I am sure that you did not miss them."

Tai and his wife denied the charges against them, telling the court they did not act wilfully and believed Abiyah would recover from a flu-like condition.