Sebastian Kalinowski: Stepdad attacked boy on day he died after he took 'too long' to dress

Warning: This report contains descriptions of child abuse.

A martial artist and body builder who is accused of murdering his teenage stepson said he attacked the boy on the day he died after he took "too long to get dressed".

Andrzej Latoszewski is on trial over the death of 15-year-old Sebastian Kalinowski at their home in Leeds Road, Huddersfield, on 13 August last year.

The 36-year-old has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.

Sebastian's mother, Agnieska Kalinowska, 35, is also accused of murder. She denies the charge but has pleaded guilty to child cruelty.

Leeds Crown Court has already heard how Sebastian died from complications caused by multiple untreated rib fractures.

The jury has been shown footage from CCTV cameras installed by the couple in their own home of Sebastian suffering repeated assaults at the hands of both defendants over the course of several weeks. The prosecution say the cameras were put up to monitor Sebastian's behaviour.

The footage shows Sebastian being repeatedly punched and kicked as well as assaulted with weapons including a bed slat and a balustrade and whipped with an extension cable.

Prosecutors say Sebastian's treatment amounted to a form of "torture".

'He was doing slowly, purposefully'

On a third day of cross-examination Latoszewski was shown footage of both him and Kalinowska assaulting Sebastian on his last day alive. The prosecution said the attack happened when Sebastian was already visibly weak and struggling to stand.

Latoszewski was asked by the prosecutor, Jason Pitter QC, why he appeared to threaten Sebastian.

He replied: "It seemed to me that he was doing, slowly, purposefully."

Asked if he meant getting dressed, Latoszewski said: "I think so."

He added: "I was rushing him and I'm not saying that was the right thing to do but that was a period of time we decided to focus our attention on bringing him up and then we wanted to achieve that when we said 'hurry up' we wanted him to hurry up and if I knew he was unwell I wouldn't have done it."

Mr Pitter said: "So this was about Sebastian doing what you told him?"

Latoszewski said: "Yes, but it started off in the morning and it seemed to Agnieska he wasn't listening to her and was doing it purposefully and that's what I thought and I was convinced he was doing it again."

He was then asked why he then assaulted Sebastian, to which he replied: "I feel really sorry sir but I think it was because I asked him to get dressed quicker, but I feel really sorry about it."

Mr Pitter asked: "But he was already dressed by then. So why do it?"

Latoszewski said: "I've already explained that he was taking too long to get dressed."

'Delete from phone'

Sebastian lost consciousness later that day. Latoszewski removed the CCTV camera from the wall of the teenager's bedroom before emergency services arrived.

Asked why he said: "I was concerned it would fall off so I removed it, but not because I wanted to hide it."

He was asked why he would have taken another camera from the living room.

Latoszewski replied: "I felt ashamed to admit it but I kept a quantity of cannabis in my basement and I was taking it to my car and I didn't want it to be caught on camera."

Mr Pitter asked the defendant why he sent a message to Kalinowska saying "delete from phone", suggesting it was because he was worried about messages they exchanged relating to Sebastian's treatment.

Latoszewski said it was because of private videos they had made. He said: "We were making our own recordings, recording us being in bed."

The court has heard how Sebastian moved to Huddersfield from Poland around a year before his death. He attended Huddersfield North Trust School, where he was described as a "model student".

But Latoszewski said that was not the case and said the school had failed to support him and his partner. He said: "He wasn't a perfect boy as described by the school and now they're trying to like have nothing to do with it even though we approached them for help and they failed to help us."

The trial continues.

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