Highlights
- Court heard Ali was suffering from acute psychosis when she killed her children.
- Mental health services had discharged her six days before their deaths.
- Judge cited shortcomings in her assessment and the lack of an acute psychiatric bed.
A MOTHER who killed her three children while suffering from acute psychosis has been given an indefinite hospital order to be treated in a secure psychiatric facility.
Yasmeen Ali, 44, admitted three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Bristol Crown Court after Fares Bash, seven, Joury Bash, three, and nine-month-old Mohammed Bash were found dead at their home in Sea Mills, Bristol, on February 18, 2024.
Judge Justice Linden said Ali had been a loving mother and believed she would not have committed the offences had she been well.
“It is my view you would not have done what you have if you were well,” he said.
The judge imposed the hospital order after hearing psychiatric evidence that her actions were “almost entirely attributable to mental disorder”.
“For the rest of your existence, you will live with the knowledge of what you have done and the loss of your beloved children,” he told her.
“I am quite sure that you are heartbroken by what happened.”
Ali wept as the court heard details of the children's injuries. Their father, Alfil Bash, left the courtroom during the proceedings.
The children were found dead on their mother's bed after police responded to a welfare call. An inquest had previously heard that all three died from stab wounds to their chests and necks. Fares also showed possible signs of asphyxia.
Mental health concerns
The court heard that Ali called emergency services shortly before officers arrived at the family home. During the three-minute call, she spoke in Arabic, sounded out of breath and said she was “going to God”.
Officers found her partially clothed, in a disturbed state, with self-inflicted stab wounds to her throat and stomach.
Ali, who had worked as a nurse in Sudan, was detained under the Mental Health Act. She was discharged from Southmead Hospital about two weeks later after surgery for her injuries and is now in a secure psychiatric hospital.
Her defence lawyer, Andrew Langdon KC, said two forensic psychiatrists believed she had schizoaffective disorder, which can involve symptoms of schizophrenia alongside a mood disorder.
The court heard Ali had told a nurse she received “messages” instructing her to kill her children at midnight, but said afterwards that no one had died and she had asked Allah for forgiveness.
Domestic abuse concerns
The court heard that Ali and Bash met in Egypt in 2015 through an arranged marriage. They moved to the UK the following year, after the birth of their eldest child.
Ali became financially dependent on her husband because she spoke little English and her spousal visa restricted her access to public funds.
Their relationship deteriorated during her third pregnancy. In September 2023, the children's primary school raised concerns with social services about possible domestic abuse. Ali reported that her husband had attacked her while she was breastfeeding.
Police were called to the home three months later. The court heard that their son Joury demonstrated how his father had put his hands around his mother's throat.
Bash was arrested and remanded in custody after telling police he did not want his wife or children at his home. The judge said Ali was then left without access to money and relied on food banks and handouts.
Ali had been discharged from mental health services on February 12, six days before the killings. The judge said there had been “deficiencies in the assessment” because an acute psychiatric bed was not available.
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust has apologised for failings in the care she received. Police referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct because of previous contact with the family, but the watchdog said no investigation was required.
Family and community mourn children
In a victim impact statement, Bash described his children as his “whole world” and said he would grieve for them for the rest of his life.
“My children were innocent human beings. They were precious and deserved long happy lives, to make friends and make their own families one day,” he said.
The judge said the deaths had caused both parents “unimaginable pain”.
