{"id":445482,"date":"2026-05-26T05:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/445482\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T05:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:28:15","slug":"mukzameel-ali-jailed-for-six-years-for-killing-infant-son-mustafa-in-te-kuiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/445482\/","title":{"rendered":"Mukzameel Ali jailed for six years for killing infant son, Mustafa, in Te Kuiti"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published on \"NZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mukzameel<\/p>\n

\nMukzameel Ali is sentenced in the High Court at Hamilton for killing his son, Mustafa Mahir Ali.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ Open Justice\n<\/p>\n

The young mother of a baby violently killed at the hands of his father<\/a> says she remains consumed by “overwhelming grief”.<\/p>\n

Tauvalea Law told Justice Layne Harvey in the High Court at Hamilton today that the immense toll from Mustafa Ali’s death would remain with her forever.<\/p>\n

Her words came as her former partner, Mukzameel Ali, was jailed six years for the death of their 10-month-old son.<\/p>\n

Mustafa died on 8 June 2024, after Ali inflicted a blow to his son’s abdomen at their Te K\u016biti home. It was so severe that it lacerated his liver and the wall of his large bowel in two locations.<\/p>\n

“The loss of my son is something I will carry for the rest of my life,” Law said, fighting back tears, as she was supported in the High Court at Hamilton by her mother.<\/p>\n

“Emotionally, this has left me with overwhelming grief and deep sadness … and struggle with the reality that my child is no longer here.”<\/p>\n

Ali was someone, at the time, she trusted to leave her son with, and the pain of her loss was at times, unbearable.<\/p>\n

\"Funeral<\/p>\n

\nFuneral of Mustafa Maheir Mukzameel Ali.
\nPhoto: Stuff \/ Mark Taylor\n<\/p>\n

She had since chosen to forgive Ali, but only “because my faith teaches me to do so and God calls me to forgive”.<\/p>\n

Law, a Christian, urged the judge to hand down a sentence that not only reflected the seriousness of what happened but also acted as a deterrent to others.<\/p>\n

Ali, who remained emotionless throughout the 90-minute hearing, was set to defend the charges, but on the eve of his trial in February this year, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, along with two charges relating to assaults on his partner between February 2023 and June 2024.<\/p>\n

‘Terminate the baby’<\/p>\n

Ali didn’t want a child.<\/p>\n

After learning of his new partner’s pregnancy in January 2023, he “immediately expressed concern” and encouraged her to terminate it.<\/p>\n

However, she wanted the baby, and, initially, misled Ali, believing that she had miscarried.<\/p>\n

Ali became aware that she was still pregnant some months later, after finding a photo of her pregnancy scan, which she had hidden from him.<\/p>\n

The pair argued, and Ali slapped her about the face “repeatedly” before pushing her down on the bed, placing his hands on her upper chest and around her neck.<\/p>\n

He then jumped on top of her with his knees on her abdomen.<\/p>\n

She didn’t require hospitalisation, and her unborn baby was not harmed.<\/p>\n

\"Mukzameel<\/p>\n

\nMukzameel Mukhzar Ali and Mustafa Ali.
\nPhoto: SUPPLIED\n<\/p>\n

The couple married in mid-July 2023, after meeting in September 2022, shortly before their son’s birth.<\/p>\n

Their relationship remained “volatile” and, on several occasions, Ali pushed or punched her.<\/p>\n

‘Stressed and angry’<\/p>\n

On 8 June 2024, Law woke to their son crying at 6am. She settled him in bed between her and Ali and went back to sleep.<\/p>\n

She got up at 8am, leaving the child sleeping with Ali at 10.50am.<\/p>\n

She asked Ali to give their son a bath and feed him before family celebrations later that afternoon.<\/p>\n

Mustafa had been unwell during the days prior, with a high temperature.<\/p>\n

Some time after his partner left, Ali fed Mustafa a bottle and some Weet-Bix. The baby vomited and was unsettled.<\/p>\n

Ali tried to feed him again later in the morning, unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n

Frustrated, Ali attempted to force-feed Mustafa his bottle, causing prominent bruises to his chin.<\/p>\n

Unable to feed or settle him, Ali became “stressed and angry”.<\/p>\n

It was during this time that Ali caused the fatal injury through a violent blow to his abdomen.<\/p>\n

At 2.16pm, his partner returned to him and was met at the front door of the house by Ali holding Mustafa in his arms.<\/p>\n

The baby was “floppy and cold to the touch”.<\/p>\n

His partner grabbed the baby and ran outside for help before the couple drove directly to Te K\u016biti Hospital.<\/p>\n

Mustafa was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. He died as a result of a crushing injury to his abdomen, lacerating his liver and the wall of his large bowel in two locations.<\/p>\n

There was also bruising to his diaphragm, small bowel mesentery, and the back of his abdominal wall.<\/p>\n

The injury to Mustafa’s liver was so severe that the bleeding into his abdomen would have started immediately after the injury was inflicted and continued uninterrupted until he died.<\/p>\n

Court documents state that, given the extent of his injury, it was unlikely that Mustafa would have survived longer than 30 to 60 minutes, possibly sooner.<\/p>\n

When initially spoken to by police, Ali said his son began to choke while feeding him, and the injury was likely caused by his subsequent attempt to perform CPR.<\/p>\n

A post-mortem found that Mustafa had abscesses around either side of his larynx, and it was likely that eating Weet-Bix would have caused him “significant discomfort”.<\/p>\n

He also had bruising behind each of his ears and a large bruise on top of his head.<\/p>\n

‘He was trying to help, initially, at least’<\/p>\n

Ali’s counsel, Rosalind Brown, said that although her client didn’t admit fault until the eve of the trial, she urged the judge to still grant a 20 percent to 25 percent discount for a guilty plea.<\/p>\n

She said Ali wanted to plead as early as December 2025, but due to a miscommunication with the Crown, that didn’t happen until earlier in the new year.<\/p>\n

“This situation is a tragedy, there’s no getting away from that,” she said, “and Mr Ali accepts responsibility for his actions, which led to that tragedy”.<\/p>\n

However, Ali lacked the maturity or life skills to deal with the situation he was in.<\/p>\n

On that day, he had been trying to feed his son and “initially at least” was trying to save him, but then accepted, “frustration took over, and he inflicted a significant blow to his abdomen”.<\/p>\n

She also suggested that it could be inferred that when Law returned home, Ali was in fact leaving to seek medical help.<\/p>\n

While Mustafa’s death could have taken between 30 and 90 minutes, expert evidence concluded it could have occurred more quickly, she said.<\/p>\n

The incident was also a “one-off”, and Brown pushed for a starting point of between five and six years’ jail, along with credits for his youth, rehabilitation attempts, remorse, previous good character, and time on electronically-monitored bail.<\/p>\n

‘This was extreme violence’<\/p>\n

Crown solicitor Jacinda Hamilton said Ali “still has a long way to go” in terms of accepting responsibility, “let alone being in a position to act with any truly remorseful conduct”.<\/p>\n

He still minimised his actions and was in denial about the motivation for the offending.<\/p>\n

“This severe and debilitating injury was caused in anger.<\/p>\n

“It reflected a loss of temper, and it was extreme violence against an infant, the most vulnerable in our community.”<\/p>\n

She said the nature of the fatal blow could be described as “vicious and gratuitous”.<\/p>\n

‘Fortunate to escape a conviction for murder’<\/p>\n

Judge Harvey largely agreed with the Crown, except when it came to giving a discount for Ali’s attempts at rehabilitation after spending 14 months at the Grace Foundation.<\/p>\n

“The steps you have taken to date are commendable and should be encouraged.”<\/p>\n

However, in deciding the starting point, Justice Harvey said Mustafa would have been in “considerable pain and distress before dying”.<\/p>\n

Given expert evidence that his fatal injury couldn’t have been caused by incorrectly administered CPR, as suggested by the defence, the judge said given that, Ali was “fortunate to escape a conviction for murder”.<\/p>\n

After taking an overall starting point of nine years and 10 months, he allowed 35 percent in discounts, along with five months for his time on electronically-monitored bail.<\/p>\n

Judge Harvey jailed Ali for six years.<\/p>\n

* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First published on Mukzameel Ali is sentenced in the High Court at Hamilton for killing his son, Mustafa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-445482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}