Courts / Kildare / Report

Father jailed for life for murdering infant son has conviction quashed on appeal

Summary

In 2003, Yusuf Ali Abdi was convicted of murdering his infant son, Nathan Baraka Andrew Ali, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The conviction was based on a jury verdict that rejected his insanity defence, despite medical witnesses for the defence claiming he was a zombie and acted under voices. The prosecution's witnesses, including Dr Damien Mohan, stated Abdi was not psychotic. In 2019, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction after a 2013 diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, made by a psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital, was deemed new evidence that could have affected the trial outcome. The appeal judge, citing the change in diagnosis and Abdi's ongoing mental illness, ruled the conviction unsafe and remanded him for a retrial. The case remains pending before the Central Criminal Court.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Father jailed for life for murdering infant son has conviction quashed on appeal. Charges or matters: murder. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• April 17, 2001 Hearing Or Sentence
• May 28, 2003 Hearing Or Sentence
• June 2003 Other
• September 2005 Incident
• October 2013 Other
• 2019-02-13 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal

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Read the original CNI report