Wife considered committing accused, court hears

The wife of a man accused of murdering their 20-month-old son considered committing him to a mental hospital in the months before the killing, a jury has heard.

In the Central Criminal Court trial, Yusif Ali Yusif Ali Abdi (aged 30), originally from Somalia, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of the murder of his son, Nathan Baraka Andrew Ali on April 17, 2001 in an apartment at The Elms, College Road, Clane, Co. Kildare.

Mr Ali Abdi’s wife Amanda Bailey, of Dundrum, Dublin has already told the trial she believed her husband was "sick".

Today, the statement of a friend of hers, Ms Niamh Connor, was read to the jury. In her statement, Niamh Connor said that Amanda Bailey had discussed with her having Yusif committed to a mental hospital. Ms Connor said she thought that was too extreme, especially since Yusif was afraid of the authorities.

Her statement said that she agreed to go with Amanda and Yusif to the home of a Muslim friend of Yusif’s, who had married an Irish woman and was living in Castleknock.

At first, the friend and his wife thought that it was the religious and cultural differences between them that was causing the difficulties between Amanda and Yusif, Ms Connor said. But the male friend, Khalid, then said to Yusif that he believed he was sick and in need of medical attention.

Khalid recommended a Muslim psychiatrist for Yusif to see, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Amanda Bailey’s mother, Ms Kay Bailey told the trial that she regarded Yusif Ali Abdi as "a very quietly spoken and gentle person" who was very good with her grandson Nathan and "a very proud father".

Mrs Bailey told Mr Roger Sweetman SC, defending, that after an incident in which Ms Amanda Bailey has alleged that Yusif was assaulted by gardai, her son-in-law was given 100 hours community service in the mosque in Clonskeagh.

Mrs Bailey said that although he was a Muslim and would attend the mosque regularly, she would not have regarded Yusif as devout up to that time.

However, she began to notice a change in him, in that he began to pray far more often, and he began to have a problem with popular music. He got rid of all his Bob Marley CDs and replaced them with the Koran on tape, she said.

She regarded that as "unhealthy", she told the court.