'My son, 15, was hero who died to save my life,' says mum as ex jailed for 30yrs

12 August 2023 , 16:00

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Katarzyna Bastek and her son Jakub

A mum whose son was stabbed to death saving her from her violent ex has spoken of the guilt that haunts her over his loss.

Katarzyna Bastek told how Jakub Szymanski, 15, rushed to rescue her after the attacker crept into their home. Speaking for the first time of the ordeal, the distraught mum revealed she had begged former partner Suleman Altaf to leave her alone.

She said: “He smiled at me and said, ‘I can leave you now.’ I backed away, he pushed me on to the sofa and stabbed me in the stomach. He didn’t speak. I could feel blood soaking through my clothes. He stabbed me again and again. I yelled twice for Jakub and the second time he came racing downstairs.

Kataryna holding a photo of her tragic son (Reach Commissioned)

“Though he was only 15, Jakub was 6ft 2in and he tried to tackle Suleman to the floor.” Katarzyna, 41, added: “It was only after he fled that I realised he’d stabbed Jakub too. I found him in the downstairs bathroom, he was choking on blood. He had a large wound in his neck. My son is gone and my family is broken. He is a hero – but I feel unbearable guilt that I am here and he is not.”

Altaf was picked up by the RNLI trying to flee across the English Channel in a dinghy. He was jailed last week at Manchester Crown Court for at least 30 years for murdering Jakub and for the attempted murder of his mum Katarzyna.

Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him

Jakub tackled the knifeman (Reach Commissioned)

Altaf, the father of Katarzyna’s youngest son, launched his frenzied attack on June 9 last year – the day after Katarzyna’s 40th birthday. He had crept into the house wearing a black mask and baseball cap as Jakub played computer games upstairs.

It was the culmination of years of harassment by Altaf – who had been ordered to leave the family home shortly after the birth of the couple’s son. He had been accused of hurting Jakub, causing a bruise on the youngster’s head – and social services allowed him only supervised access to his own child.

Suleman Altaf showed no remorse

But Altaf took to turning up at the hotel where Katarzyna worked, once allegedly assaulting her by digging his nails into her arm. In 2016 the family moved to a secret address, but Altaf tracked them down and tried to break down the door.

After Katarzyna again reported him to the police, he disappeared from their lives – until in 2021 a court granted him indirect contact with his young son. Katarzyna said: “It was his way of harassing me. I never felt frightened of him, but Jakub said to me, ‘I’m scared of him… I’m scared of what he will do’.” A year later, Jakub was dead.

The killer was caught at sea (MEN MEDIA)

Recalling the moment she found her son had also been stabbed, Katarzyna said: “He was bleeding very heavily. He started to lie down. I was saying, ‘Please, don’t leave me. Don’t close your eyes.” Katarzyna – who also has sons Jan, 21, and Miki, 19 – was in hospital for two weeks, having several life-saving ops on her stomach. She said: “For weeks, I was in denial. Jakub used to say to me, ‘I won’t ever leave you Mum. I’m going to be a plasterer and live with you forever’.

“He was an absolute hero. He stood up to a monster with a knife to save my life. In the end, he had to leave me.” Calling Altaf “a total coward”, she added: “When he was sentenced, he smiled – the same as when he stabbed me. I’m thankful he was brought back to face justice. But it will not bring my son back.”

Ann Cusack