A Moroccan national who overstayed her visa has been charged with murdering her three-month-old son in London, a court has heard. Dounia Chetaouat, 32, and her partner Abdelkader Essid, 44, an Algerian, are accused of killing baby Adam Essid at a flat in North Finchley.
Emergency services were called to the home shortly before midday on 30 January after Essid reported that the child had stopped breathing. Adam went into cardiac arrest when police arrived and was taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he later died from what prosecutors described as 'unsurviveable' injuries.
Chetaouat and Essid have been charged with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. Chetaouat appeared at the Old Bailey via video-link from Bronzefield prison on Wednesday, while Essid was not produced for the preliminary hearing before Judge Sarah Munro KC.
Prosecutor Joel Smith told the court that the couple had been due to take Adam to see a health visitor on 30 January, but Chetaouat cancelled the appointment, saying she 'had not slept well'. Judge Munro set a plea hearing for 13 May and a provisional trial at the Old Bailey from 15 February next year. Both defendants were remanded in custody.
