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AAP General News (Australia)
11-02-2000
Qld: Butcher carves up own daughter
By Suzanne Klotz
BRISBANE, Nov 2 AAP - A butcher was sentenced to life in prison today after being convicted
of carving up his own newborn baby daughter to cover up an extramarital affair.
Raymond Akhtar Ali, 48, was found guilty in the Supreme Court of the murder of Chahleen
Amy Ali in early September 1998 at Logan Village on Brisbane's southern outskirts.
The jury was told that Ali, a Muslim butcher, cut the baby in half and expertly removed
her sexual organs in the same way he did with female goats.
Four goats were slain on behalf of the prosecution in a bid to prove that only Ali
could have carved up the baby in such an expert fashion.
Prosecutor Paul Rutledge during the sentencing hearing described the murder
as "evil".
"The baby was carved up in the most obscene of fashions soon after birth. The motive
was purely selfish, purely lust," Mr Rutledge said.
Justice Margaret Wilson sentenced Ali to mandatory life imprisonment.
"You sacrificed your own newborn child on the altar of your own self interest," Justice
Wilson said.
"The mutilation of the child's body was an act of unspeakable brutality."
The jury also found Ali guilty of interfering with a body and concealing a birth.
Ali constantly interrupted the sentencing hearing, protesting his innocence and blaming
the baby's mother Amanda Leanne Blackwell.
Blackwell, 22, of Howard, north of Brisbane, was found guilty of the lesser charge
of manslaughter, and concealing a birth.
Her sentencing hearing has been adjourned for a psychiatric pre-sentence report and
she was remanded in custody after making an unsuccessful bail application.
Both Ali and Blackwell had pleaded not guilty to murde
r and the lesser charges.
The baby's remains were discovered on the property next to Ali's on September 9, 1998
after some of them were dug up by dogs.
DNA testing proved the baby belonged to Ali and Amanda Blackwell.
The pair had been having an affair, with Blackwell living in the same house as Ali,
his wife Bronwyn and their four-year-old son.
Blackwell was engaged to Ali's nephew, who lived in Fiji.
The crown case was that no preparations had been made for the baby's birth and the
pair had decided it had to die.
It was alleged that Ali took the baby after birth and bashed, kicked or stomped on
it and then expertly dissected it before burying it on his property.
The baby's body was discovered after dogs dug it up and spread some of the remains
onto the driveway of the neighbouring property.
Ali was a meat wholesaler who worked from home as well as operating Halal butcheries
supplying to Muslim customers in Brisbane.
At his
Logan Village acreage property Ali had a butcher's room attached to the house
which was fitted out with meat processing equipment and stainless steel benches.
Ali, who did not give or call evidence, constantly interrupted the sentencing hearing
with claims that he had been framed.
"I'll prove it in a higher court. I've been judged on my colour and my religion.
"She did it, but she's a white woman," he said referring to Blackwell.
AAP smk/sc/jnb/de
KEYWORD: BABY
Ãâ┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�šÃ”š¿ 2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
11-02-2000
Qld: Butcher carves up own daughter
By Suzanne Klotz
BRISBANE, Nov 2 AAP - A butcher was sentenced to life in prison today after being convicted
of carving up his own newborn baby daughter to cover up an extramarital affair.
Raymond Akhtar Ali, 48, was found guilty in the Supreme Court of the murder of Chahleen
Amy Ali in early September 1998 at Logan Village on Brisbane's southern outskirts.
The jury was told that Ali, a Muslim butcher, cut the baby in half and expertly removed
her sexual organs in the same way he did with female goats.
Four goats were slain on behalf of the prosecution in a bid to prove that only Ali
could have carved up the baby in such an expert fashion.
Prosecutor Paul Rutledge during the sentencing hearing described the murder
as "evil".
"The baby was carved up in the most obscene of fashions soon after birth. The motive
was purely selfish, purely lust," Mr Rutledge said.
Justice Margaret Wilson sentenced Ali to mandatory life imprisonment.
"You sacrificed your own newborn child on the altar of your own self interest," Justice
Wilson said.
"The mutilation of the child's body was an act of unspeakable brutality."
The jury also found Ali guilty of interfering with a body and concealing a birth.
Ali constantly interrupted the sentencing hearing, protesting his innocence and blaming
the baby's mother Amanda Leanne Blackwell.
Blackwell, 22, of Howard, north of Brisbane, was found guilty of the lesser charge
of manslaughter, and concealing a birth.
Her sentencing hearing has been adjourned for a psychiatric pre-sentence report and
she was remanded in custody after making an unsuccessful bail application.
Both Ali and Blackwell had pleaded not guilty to murde
r and the lesser charges.
The baby's remains were discovered on the property next to Ali's on September 9, 1998
after some of them were dug up by dogs.
DNA testing proved the baby belonged to Ali and Amanda Blackwell.
The pair had been having an affair, with Blackwell living in the same house as Ali,
his wife Bronwyn and their four-year-old son.
Blackwell was engaged to Ali's nephew, who lived in Fiji.
The crown case was that no preparations had been made for the baby's birth and the
pair had decided it had to die.
It was alleged that Ali took the baby after birth and bashed, kicked or stomped on
it and then expertly dissected it before burying it on his property.
The baby's body was discovered after dogs dug it up and spread some of the remains
onto the driveway of the neighbouring property.
Ali was a meat wholesaler who worked from home as well as operating Halal butcheries
supplying to Muslim customers in Brisbane.
At his
Logan Village acreage property Ali had a butcher's room attached to the house
which was fitted out with meat processing equipment and stainless steel benches.
Ali, who did not give or call evidence, constantly interrupted the sentencing hearing
with claims that he had been framed.
"I'll prove it in a higher court. I've been judged on my colour and my religion.
"She did it, but she's a white woman," he said referring to Blackwell.
AAP smk/sc/jnb/de
KEYWORD: BABY
Ãâ┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�šÃ”š¿ 2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.