Murder-accused mother 'threw newborn from window'

An 18-day-old baby girl suffered a fatal head injury when she was thrown out of a window by her mother, a court has heard.

Baby Mariam plunged from a sash window in her family's third-floor flat in Westminster, central London, on Saturday.

Her mother Zahira Byjaouane, aged 43, was due to appear at the Old Bailey earlier charged with her murder but was unable to attend court.

During the hearing, Prosecutor Philip McGhee said the defendant's husband had called 999 at 07:30 GMT and reported that a child had fallen from a window.

The baby's father was said to have been in the kitchen making baby formula when the defendant allegedly threw the baby from a sash window.

McGhee said the husband had run outside and tried unsuccessfully to reach Mariam before returning inside and calling 999.

The emergency services found the baby lying on a concrete surface between the block of flats on Great Peter Street and a high metal railing.

Police went inside the flat and found Byjaouane sitting on a bed.

Mariam was taken to hospital in a critical condition, having fallen about 10m (32ft) from the window, the court was told.

She died in hospital at 09:00 having suffered a fracture to the skull, McGhee said.

A plea hearing will take place on 3 June and a provisional trial date was set for February 2027.

The judge remanded the defendant into custody.

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