The wife of a man accused of murdering their 20-month-old son broke down as she told a Central Criminal Court jury today that her husband "adored" their son and had never lost his temper with him.
The infant died from massive brain damage he suffered in his father's apartment in Clane, Co Kildare in April 2001.
Opening the prosecution case, senior counsel Mr Michael Durack said that he has been put on notice that a defence of insanity will be raised in the case.
Mr Yusif Ali Abdi (30), who is originally from Somalia, with an address at The Elms, College Road, Clane, Co Kildare has pleaded not guilty to a charge of the murder of his 20-month-old son, Nathan Baraka Andrew Ali on April 17th, 2001 in the apartment at College Road, Clane.
His wife and the infant's mother, Ms Amanda Bailey (29), from Dundrum, Dublin, was one of the first witnesses for the prosecution in the case.
On Easter Monday 2001, she said, she brought Nathan down to Clane to visit his father. During the afternoon, they had a conversation about why she would not let him see Nathan alone. Ms Bailey said she told him she was quite happy for Nathan to see him, but if he wanted to take Nathan himself for longer, he would have to get a court order.
But she told the court: "We weren't separated. I had no plans at that time to leave him, it was just a bad time."
She said that when Yusif went to an ATM to get money for her that afternoon, on his way back, some children had called him "a nig-nog". "He wasn't angry, he was more upset, and he had a cup and he threw it at the fireplace", she said.
Later, she said, Yusif asked would she stay the night, and she agreed. She said she "had no fear" for either her or her son, and was happy for Nathan to be with his father. "Yusif loved Nathan and was good with him and Nathan loved his Dad," Ms Bailey said.
That night, she went to bed at around 11.30 p.m. Nathan was asleep in bed and Mr Abdi was sitting in the living room. At around 4.20 a.m., she awoke when Yusif came into the bedroom. "I probably would have asked him what he was doing", she said. "He didn't reply. He just picked up Nathan and brought him into the living room."
Ms Bailey said she got up and followed him, but he had locked the living room door. She went to the bathroom to go to the toilet. While she was in there, she heard three or four "thud" sounds. She did not want to make a noise in case she woke Nathan.
She listened, and then stood outside the living room door. She eventually climbed on a high chair and looked in through the glass panel above the door.
The kitchen door was half-shut and she could see Nathan's arm. He was lying on the floor. Yusif was praying and she could see his prayer mat. She got down from the high chair and could hear her husband on the telephone. She thought he was calling a taxi until she heard him say "20 months" and then realized it was not a taxi he was ringing for. "But I still didn't realise", she said.
It was two minutes before he let her in, and when she saw Nathan she knew something was wrong. She rang for an ambulance again "because I thought Yusif was too calm when he rang them so they wouldn't have realised it was an emergency", she said.
She said she then took off her pyjamas, put on a trousers, wrapped Nathan in a blanket and waited for the ambulance.
Under cross-examination by counsel for the defence, Mr Tom O'Connell SC, Ms Bailey agreed that her husband was transferred to the Central Mental Hospital from Clover Hill prison six months after he was taken into custody for the killing of his son.
She agreed that she did not see him for some months initially but now saw him every week, sometimes twice a week, and talked to him on the phone as well.
She said her husband had been a caring and sensitive man to her, and that before April 2001, he was placid, patient and "a really good father" to their son.
Breaking down in court, she said, "He adored Nathan: he was the image of him; he had his Dad's eyes and his smile and everything."
The jury heard that Nathan Ali was removed to Naas general hospital and certified dead at 5.30 a.m. on April 17th, 2001. The state pathologist, Dr John Harbison found that he died of massive damage to the brain with skull fractures resulting from multiple impacts with a hard surface.