Ex-partner stabbed mother and autistic son in front of baby in Louth, court told

Daniel Boulton, 30, denies murdering his ex-partner and her son, assault with intent to resist arrest, and burglary. Credit: PA

A violent ex-partner travelled 28 miles on foot to stab a mother and her young autistic son to death in front of a distressed baby before leading police on a 24-hour manhunt, a court has been told.

Daniel Boulton, 30, is alleged to have attacked his former girlfriend Bethany Vincent and her nine-year-old son Darren Henson "numerous times" while he was the subject of a restraining order at around 8pm on 31 May last year.

Boulton developed a "hatred" for Darren and walked from his address in Skegness to Ms Vincent's home in High Holme Road in Louth, Lincolnshire, where he "loitered for hours", Lincoln Crown Court was told.

A nine-month-old child was seen crawling around the house when emergency services arrived at the property, the court heard, with the defendant later leaving a note saying: "I, Daniel Boulton, take full responsibility for 182."

Bethany Vincent and her nine-year-old son were killed in Louth last May Credit: PA

Jurors were told Boulton and Ms Vincent met on Tinder but their relationship had "deteriorated" by the end of March 2019 and he was eventually ordered not to contact his ex-partner.

The prosecution said "persistent" Boulton had sent Ms Vincent nearly 900 messages over the Bank Holiday weekend, including one which said: "You destroyed my life and have the cheek to say I ruined yours."

Boulton led Lincolnshire Police on a manhunt until the following day, when he allegedly stabbed an off-duty police officer in the leg in the Hubbard's Hills area of Louth before being Tasered and arrested on a nearby farm.

Police arrested Boulton at a farm in the outskirts of Louth Credit: PA

Prosecutors said there was "no dispute" Boulton stabbed both victims, with him denying the alleged offences because his ability to exercise self-control had been "impaired".

Opening the case against Boulton on Thursday, prosecutor Katherine Goddard QC said: "At around 8pm on the evening of May 31 last year, a young woman and her nine-year-old son were brutally stabbed to death in their own home in Louth.

"There is no dispute that the person who stabbed both victims was this defendant, Daniel Boulton.

"Mr Boulton's case will be that, although he physically carried out the stabbings of the two victims, he was, at the time, suffering from a recognised mental condition which substantially impaired his ability to form a rational judgement and exercise self-control."

But Katherine Goodard said: "He was, the prosecution submit, a man who was had planned his actions, was fully in control of them, and should therefore, be held fully responsible and accountable for them."

Boulton, of Alexandra Road, Skegness, denies murdering Ms Vincent and her son, assault with intent to resist arrest, and burglary.

The trial continues.