A Birmingham mother, convicted of starving her seven year old daughter, has lost her bid to shorten her sentence.
Khyra Ishaq was beaten and left hungry by her mother Angela Gordan and her partner Junaid Abuhamza at their Birmingham home.
The ordeal resulted in the youngster dying from a malnutrition-related infection.
The couple were convicted of manslaughter last year, with the mother receiving a minimum 15 year sentence, while her partner was jailed until further notice.
However, Ms Gordan will be facing up to life after failing a bid to have her case sent to the Court of Appeal.
Khyra was found unconscious by ambulance staff at her Leyton Road home on May 17 2008, weighing just 2st 6lb.
The youngster, who suffered learning difficulties, was taken out of education months earlier at the end of 2007, with her guardians claiming that they preferred her to be home schooled.
But Ms Gordan and her boyfriend’s real intentions were to subject the young girl and her five siblings to a “punishment regime.
Mr Abuhamza was convinced that Khyra’s body contained a djinn, an evil spirit that can possess humans to carry out black magic.
Khyra was beaten with a stick for a few hours, while her mother’s partner sang songs.
A post mortem found that Khyra had 60 external injuries and lay dying with pneumonia and meningitis for two days.
Ms Gordan applied to the CCRC last November to have her conviction reviewed, which the independent public body can refer back to the Court of Appeal.
However, the mother has been informed by the commission that they would not be taking her case any further.
CCRC spokesman Justin Hawkins told the Sunday Mercury: “In order to refer any conviction to the Court of Appeal, the Commission usually needs to identify new evidence or new legal argument capable of raising a real possibility that the appeal court would quash the conviction.
“We have not been able to identify such evidence or argument in this case.
