Nusayba Umar: Mother of murdered toddler ‘will be haunted by noise she made on last day of her life forever’
Unlicensed dog breeder Kamran Haider killed 16-month-old girl by hitting and shaking her just weeks after meeting her mother on dating site
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The mother of a toddler shook to death by a man she met on a dating site weeks earlier has said she will be forever haunted by her murder.
Unlicensed dog breeder Kamran Haider, 39, attacked 16-month-old Nusayba Umar, causing catastrophic brain injuries on 13 September 2019.
The child suffered a fit and was taken to hospital where she died four days later after intensive care support was withdrawn.
Her mother, Asiyah Amazir, said she heard Haider say “shut up, Nusayba” followed by a slapping sound on the day she died.
She said in a victim impact statement: “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.
“There are also the other more obvious effects of this awful crime committed against my daughter.
“Things like I will never get to see her grow up, hear her first full sentence, see her first day at school, her first tooth loss, her first proper tantrum and all of the other beautiful milestones that a mother witnesses throughout her children’s lives.
“I will never get to hold her again or kiss her tiny hands, tickle her, put her in a pretty dress or buy her a toy that I know she wants, all of the most benign and underrated things that most take for granted as parents – these have been taken from me and cannot be given back.
“Something as simple as changing her nappy or doing her laundry is now a heart breaking memory for me and these are just some of the life-long impacts of this crime that I’m able to verbalise.
“There are a million more things I am not able to think of words for, to be able to really explain the immediate and life-long impacts of my daughter being murdered, not just for me but also for the rest of her family and we will have to live with these things for the rest of our lives.”
Haider had a history of violence, attacking a former girlfriend and abusing her children to “teach them a lesson”, the Old Bailey heard during his trial in London.
He had denied any physical contact, let alone an assault, but his claim was rejected by a jury.
Haider was found guilty of murder and child neglect by a jury in his absence at the Old Bailey on Monday.
Ms Justice Cheema-Grubb adjourned sentencing until Wednesday, saying she “would like to give him the chance to be here for his sentence”.
Nusayba’s death was caused by “violent shaking” and impact, prosecutor Edward Brown QC said previously.
He told jurors although they “will understand that injuries such as these can be caused in a few seconds, that will not diminish the catastrophic results of such violence”.
Haider lived with his mother in a four-bedroom house in Ilford, northeast London.
Ms Amazir, from Newham, east London, met him through a dating website and effectively moved in to help with his dog breeding business, jurors heard.
At first, Ms Amazir had no real concerns about Haider’s behaviour – which could be “snappy” and “verbally aggressive”, the court heard.
Just over a fortnight before the fatal attack, Nusayba allegedly suffered a separate head injury while in the care of the defendant.
Haider told Ms Amazir Nusayba had fallen over in the kitchen while he was in the garden feeding his dogs.
He went on to become increasingly threatening towards mother and child, it was alleged.
He put Nusayba in a corner, hit her on the hand during “time out”, and made her adopt various “stress positions”, Mr Brown said.
If Ms Amazir tried to intervene, he would slap her, jurors were told.
Mr Brown said Haider appeared to justify his behaviour by accusing Ms Amazir of being too soft, telling her Nusayba would “grow up to be a pussy”.
On the day of Haider’s killer attack, Ms Amazir got up to tend to the dogs when she heard Nusayba crying, jurors heard.
As she went towards her room, she allegedly heard the defendant say “shut up, Nusayba” and a slapping sound.
She heard Nusayba “yelp” in response, jurors were told.
Afterwards, the girl did not seem herself, though there was no outward sign of injury, the court heard.
At around 5pm, Nusayba began having a fit and Haider suggested to Ms Amazir that she take the youngster to her home to “relax”, jurors heard.
Ms Amazir left and called an ambulance from the bus stop at the end of the road.
She told the operator her daughter started having a fit on a bus, only later disclosing she was scared of Haider, the court was told.
When paramedics arrived, it was clear Nusayba was “gravely ill” and she taken to hospital.
Her condition did not improve and, on 17 September 2019, intensive care support was withdrawn and she died.
Additional reporting by Press Association