UK mother accused of starving boy, 4
AAP
September 18, 2013 10:11PM
THE mummified corpse of a four-year-old boy was found in a cot in his mother's bedroom almost two years after he starved to death, a British jury has been told.
Hamzah Khan's body was still dressed in a baby-gro when police made the "dreadful discovery" at his house in Bradford, West Yorkshire, a court heard.
Details of how Hamzah's body was found in September 2011 were outlined when his mother Amanda Hutton went on trial at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday.
Hutton, 43, denies her son's manslaughter.
Prosecutor Paul Greaney QC told the jury that Hamzah died when he was four-and-a-half years old on December 15, 2009.
But the barrister said his remains were found 21 months later in clothing intended for a baby aged six to nine months.
He said these clothes fitted him because his growth had been stunted after being malnourished over a lengthy period and that state of affairs resulted in his death.
"In short, he starved to death," Greaney said.
Hamzah's body was found after police community support officer Jodie Worsley spoke to Hutton and became concerned about the smell coming from her house.
The prosecutor said Hutton was an abuser of alcohol and cannabis.
The jury was also told that Hutton ordered pizza within hours of her son's death and continued to claim child benefit for him.
