THE father of Mikaeel Kular believes his son was beaten to death by mother Rosdeep Adekoya in a twisted attempt to exact revenge on him.

Zahid Saeed has spoken for the first time since his three-year-old son was killed at home in January.

Adekoya pled guilty to culpable homicide and last month she was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

However, Mr Saeed, whose relationship with Adekoya had ended before their son's death, remains tortured by the idea that little Mikaeel was killed because he bore too close a resemblance to himself.

He believes Adekoya was obsessed with him and was determined to get revenge on him for rejecting her.

He said: "I think she killed Mikaeel because she couldn't stand to see me in him every day. We look the same and we have the same character. My son was the innocent victim. I just wish she'd brought her anger down on me and not him.

"Her obsession made her love me but then it made her hate and resent me. She would stop at nothing to hurt me for rejecting her."

He added: "Every second of the day I wonder whether I could have stopped it, whether I could have done more. What if I had fought stronger - would he still be alive?

"The mind games really started when she found out she was pregnant.

"I was helpless - she refused to put me on the birth certificate so I had no parental rights.

"I would turn up on her doorstep with nappies and formula but she slammed the door in my face."

Mr Saeed also said that despite being in prison, Adekoya was still able to make his life a misery.

He said: "I went to the hospital and begged to see his body but they would only let me see him from behind a glass screen. All I could see was his little hand.

"I was desperate to hold him but they wouldn't let me. Later I found out that she had been allowed in to see him even though she was the one who had taken his life."

Two separate enquiries have been launched into the circumstances surrounding Mikaeel's death.