Father tells of grief for little boy found dead at Bradford house

Mechanic Aftab Khan said: “I am grieving now. I have just found out my little boy is dead. The last time I saw him was three years ago.”

Hamzah Khan’s body was discovered at a terraced property in Crofton Road, Heaton, Bradford, on Wednesday afternoon.

It is thought the child had been dead for some time.

The father-of-eight confirmed little Hamzah was a twin and that his ex-partner, and the child’s mother, had been arrested in connection with his death.

Amanda Hutton left the family home, where Mr Khan still lives, three years ago, taking the children with her.

Police said today that the pair have been released on bail.

At the weekend Mr Khan spoke at the door of the terraced home alongside his 20-year-old son, Qaiser.

They told how Qaiser had moved back in with his father just two months ago.

Mr Khan said: “I did not see Hamzah for three years, my son, here, only just moved back in with me two months ago.

“It’s far too raw to say anything just now about Hamzah, I am grieving.

“There is also a police investigation ongoing.

“I do not want to jeopardise any police investigation.

“It’s important we find out exactly what has happened before I speak out.”

Care assistant Sylvia Wharton, 54, who lives in Crofton Road, said: “It is an awful thing to have happened here.

“This is a nice street, we all get on here – we’ve even had a street party before – something like this shouldn’t happen somewhere like this.”

Mrs Wharton said she rarely saw the children and would only see Ms Hutton nipping out to the shops occasionally.

She said: “The children seemed to be nice enough but they didn’t really play out.”

Another neighbour, self-employed Mazar Hussain, 47, said he noticed a difference in his neighbour two months ago.

He said: “In the past she’s always kept all her windows and curtains closed but in the past couple of months she started opening all the windows.

“And come to think of it we haven’t seen her at all for the last couple of months.

“You would often see her stood out the back having a cigarette.”

Police say a 40-year-old woman, understood to be the dead boy’s mother and a 22-year-old man, believed to be a relative of the dead boy, have been arrested and are in custody.

The strategic director for children’s services at Bradford Council, Kath Tunstall, has confirmed there will be an independent investigation into his death.

Local churches held services in memory of Hamzah yesterday.