A father who’s pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his 10-month-old son told police he injured the boy giving CPR.
Te Kūiti baby Mustafa Ali died in 2024 and his father, Mukzameel Ali, 24, was due to begin a trial in the High Court in Hamilton on Monday.
Instead, he pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter, as well as assault with intent to injure, and assault on a family member. The latter two charges involve the baby’s mother.
Name suppression lapsed for Ali - whose occupation on court documents is listed as meat inspector - on Monday and was not renewed by his counsel, Rosalind Brown and Emma Priest.
He was remanded in custody by Justice Layne Harvey will be sentenced on May 26.
Ali senior was 22 years old at the time of Mustafa’s birth on August 27, 2023. He had moved to New Zealand from Fiji in July 2022, and began a relationship with the child’s mother soon after.
It was not long after that the woman told Ali she had become pregnant, the summary of facts on his case reveals. He immediately became concerned and told her he wanted her to terminate the pregnancy.
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She, however, wanted to keep the baby - and told Ali she had miscarried.
However, she remained pregnant. Ali became aware of this some months later, after he found a photograph of a pregnancy scan she had hidden from him.
Ali became angry and, in a violent confrontation, slapped the woman about her face repeatedly. The violence continued with Ali sitting on her thighs while she was on a bed. She tried to get him off her, and scratched his face.
He then pushed her down, placing his hands on her upper chest and around her neck, before jumping on top of her with his knees on her abdomen.
There was no harm recorded to her pregnancy following that assault. Eventually, the couple married in July 2023, about a month before Mustafa’s birth.
Mustafa Maheir Mukzameel Ali pictured with his father, Mukzameel Ali. Photo: supplied
On June 8, 2024, the mother awoke to Mustafa crying about 6am. She settled him in bed between her and Ali, and he returned to sleep.
About 8am she got out of bed, and left the house about 10.50am, after asking Ali to give the baby a bath and feed him, in advance of family celebrations that were to take place that afternoon.
Mustafa had been unwell, with a high temperature, and had shown signs of being unsettled in the days prior.
Some time after the mother left the house, Ali fed Mustafa a bottle and some Weetbix. The baby vomited and remained unsettled.
Ali tried to feed the baby again, unsuccessfully. Frustrated, he attempted to force feed the infant with the bottle, causing bruising to his chin.
Unable to feed or settle Mustafa, he became stressed and angry.
At some point, he caused a fatal injury to Mustafa through a violent blow directed to the baby’s abdomen.
About 2.16pm the mother returned home, and was met at the front door by Ali, holding the baby in his arms.
The child was floppy, and cold to the touch.
The couple drove to Te Kūiti Hospital, however the child was pronounced deceased soon after their arrival.
The impact of the fatal blow had lacerated his liver, and the wall of the large bowel in two locations.
Possible causes of the blunt force trauma could have included a punch, kick or stomp.
The injury to Mustafa’s liver was so severe, bleeding into the abdomen began immediately.
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As the summary notes, “it can be expected Mustafa was crying and in obvious discomfort until a decrease in blood pressure would have led to him becoming drowsy and ultimately rendering him unconscious”.
It is believed he would have not survived longer than 30 to 60 minutes after the blow was inflicted.
When spoken to by the police, Ali said the baby had begun to choke while feeding, and the injury was likely caused by his subsequent attempt to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
He described carrying out chest compressions that included two hands on Mustafa’s chest and, effectively, punching him in the stomach.
A pathologist determined that the force required to cause Mustafa’s internal injury is not consistent with any CPR procedures.
There was also bruising behind each of the baby’s ears, and a large bruise on the top of his head. In the pathologist’s opinion, both could have been caused up to 18 hours before his death.