Dad stabbed ex's teenage son to death then tried to cross the Channel on a dinghy, murder trial jury told

A dad stabbed the 15-year-old son of his estranged partner to death then fled and tried to cross the English Channel to France on a dinghy, a murder trial jury was told.

Suleman Altaf was tracked down on the waters by a lifeboat crew responding to reports of a 'drifting dinghy' - who 'persuaded' him after more than an hour to come on board, a court heard. He told the RNLI crew that he intended to sail to France then travel on to Portugal, the jury was told.

Altaf, 45, is standing trial at Manchester Crown Court accused of the murder in Miles Platting on June 9, 2022, of teenager Jakub Szymanski and the attempted murder of Jakub's mother, his former partner Katarzyna Bastek.

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He's also charged with possessing a knife in a public place. Altaf, of no fixed abode, denies all three charges he faces. The jury was told Jakub came to his mother's 'aid', but was stabbed in the neck by Altaf at the family home on Bednal Avenue.

Beforehand, he was seen 'walking the streets' around the house for more than three hours wearing a baseball cap, a face mask and latex gloves, the court heard.

Opening the case to the jury on Monday, Alexander Leach KC said: "The prosecution case is that on that day, Suleman Altaf went uninvited to the home of his estranged former partner, Katarzyna Bastek. At the time that he went there, he was intent on violence."

Mr Leach said armed with a knife, Altaf 'launched an attack' on Ms Bastek, stabbing her in the stomach, and it was during the course of a 'fight that followed' that he stabbed Jakub to throat, causing a 'catastrophic injury'.

The court heard details of what Ms Bastek went on to tell police. The