Mum of 3-year-old girl becomes first person in the UK to be convicted of female genital mutilation after trying to ‘shut up’ accusers with witchcraft
A MUM has become the first person in the UK to be convicted of female genital mutilation after trying to "shut up" accusers with witchcraft.
The 37-year-old claimed she had never heard of FGM but she hired a "witch" to cut her three-year-old daughter at home in Walthamstow, East London.
When she spoke to cops, the girl - now aged five - said she was pinned down while a woman mutilated her during the 2017 summer bank holiday.
Police raiding the home found spells hidden inside 40 frozen limes and two ox tongues with screws embedded in them.
Chilling pictures show handwritten spells and curses aimed at blocking police and social workers from investigating with messages telling them to "freeze their mouths".
The Ugandan mum was today found guilty of FGM at the Old Bailey in a legal first for the UK and faces up to 14 years in jail.
Her Ghanaian partner, 43, was cleared of FGM and an alternative charge of failing to protect a girl from risk of genital mutilation.
FGM - the facts
FGM is usually carried out in a warped act of religious piety.
It is routinely practised by obscure Islamic sects or people with links to African tribes who have termed it as sunna, gudniin, halalays, tahur, megrez and khitan among other names.
FGM is usually carried out on girls between infancy and the age of 15, most commonly before puberty starts.
It's very painful and can seriously harm their health and cause long-term problems with sex, childbirth and mental health.
It is illegal in the UK and is regarded as a form of child abuse.
FGM has been a criminal offence in the UK since 1985.
In 2003 it also became a criminal offence for UK nationals or permanent UK residents to take their child abroad to have female genital mutilation.
Anyone found guilty of the offence faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
Jurors heard how the surgery on the girl went wrong and emergency services were told she had fallen.
But a surgeon found three separate sites of injury and no bruising to indicate a fall.
The youngster was instructed to tell social workers she had injured herself on a cupboard door after climbing on to a work surface to get biscuits.
Prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC said the mother had an interest in witchcraft and targeted social workers, police then-Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders.
Spells found inside the freezer
"I freeze your mouth, don’t ever talk about me, shut up shut up shut up”
"I freeze u mouth never to talk about me mention anything about me"
"To everyone who I don't know who talk about I have freezed u mouths"
"I freeze u lips u words everything you say about me"
The two-page "court spell" document featured the names of her children and others involved in her case.
Describing the items found by cops, Ms Carberry said: "Two cow tongues, they were bound in wire with nails and a small blunt knife also embedded in them, 40 limes were found and other fruit which when opened contained pieces of paper with names on them.
"These people were to 'shut up' and 'freeze their mouths'."
The mum maintained during the trial her daughter had been injured while falling but jurors saw through her lies.
They were told the injuries were deliberately inflicted by someone using a very sharp implement 12 hours before the girl was taken to hospital.
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Detective Chief Inspector Ian Baker of the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said: “This was a complex, sensitive investigation with a harrowing crime committed by this defendant.
“We cannot lose sight that this case is about a very young girl who was the victim of an illegal, horrific and life-changing act at the hands of her mother.
“I would like to acknowledge the bravery she and her sibling have shown since the offence was committed.
“An array of evidence – witness accounts, and medical and forensic evidence - which showed that FGM was the cause of the girl’s horrific injuries was painstakingly built, and this evidence was presented to a jury who after careful deliberation has found this woman guilty of FGM."
