Doubt raised at charges in girl’s murder
AT least one of a husband and wife accused of killing their daughter must be innocent, a court has heard.
Concerns were raised that both Abdul and Aleksandra Wahab have been charged with the murder of five-year-old Nadia Zofia Kalinowska.
The girl was found dead at the family’s home in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, in December last year.
Examinations confirmed she had sustained head and abdominal injuries.
Abdul Wahab (32) and Aleksandra Wahab (26) are currently in custody jointly charged with murder, causing or allowing the death of a child, and grievous bodily harm with intent to Nadia over a year-long period.
The husband and wife, originally from Pakistan and Poland respectively, emphatically deny all allegations against them.
They claim Nadia sustained the fatal injuries when she fell down a flight of stairs at their Fernagh Drive address.
At Belfast Magistrates Court yesterday a solicitor for Abdul Wahab said senior counsel now instructed in the case had expressed “serious concerns”.
Danny Mcnamee submitted: “We have two people charged with the murder of the infant child. There doesn’t appear to be any indication from the police or anyone else that both these people were involved in this assault.
“His (senior counsel’s) concern is very simple: it must be blatantly obvious to all involved in this case that at least one of these people has to be innocent.”
Aleksandra Wahab’s barrister Gavyn Cairns revealed that she is now heavily pregnant.
District Judge Fiona Bagnall agreed to adjourn both defendants’ cases for two weeks.