A Birmingham mother who murdered her 12-week old baby must serve a minimum of 12 years behind bars for her crime, a judge ruled yesterday.

Chaha'oh-Niyol KaiWhitewind, then 28, of Maas Road, Northfield, was jailed for life after being convicted of her baby son Bidziil's murder at Birmingham Crown Court in December 2003.

And yesterday, Mr Justice Gross ruled she must serve a minimum tariff of 12 years. After time spent on remand is taken into account, it means Kai Whitewind will not be released before late 2014.

The judge, sitting at London's Royal Courts of Justice, said that the starting point in fixing her tariff would now be 15 years were she being sentenced today.

However, he ruled it would be wrong to increase her minimum term beyond 12 years, even were it not for the fact that the legal principle that laws are not retrospective precluded him from setting a tariff higher than that.

The judge said the one year, one month and 15 days KaiWhitewind spent in custody before being sentenced to life also stood to be deducted from the 12-year tariff.

Even once Kai-Whitewind has served her tariff, she will only be freed if she can persuade the Parole Board she poses no public threat. ..SUPL: