Rania Alayed murder trial

Rania Alayed's husband claimed she had "done a runner with another man" after "beating her children", the court heard.

The dead mother's uncle, Ali Aydi, said that her husband, Ahmed Al-Khatib, claimed Rania had abandoned her three youngsters after hitting them.

Mr Aydi said Ahmed insisted he had caught his wife having an affair, and that she fled to Turkey with "another man".

Mr Aydi said he "did not believe" any of it, thinking it was part of a "cover-up".

He described his niece as a "delicate, soft-hearted mother" who loved her children.

Ahmed Al-Khatib, from Gorton, Manchester, denies his wife's murder.

She disappeared in June 2013. Her body has never been found.

The uncle of a dead mother-of-three, whose body has never been found, has told a court that he believed her husband "could harm her".

Ali Aydi, from Sheffield, told jurors at Manchester Crown Court that Rania Alayed described being raped and beaten within her marriage to Ahmed Al-Khatib.

Giving evidence with the assistance of a translator, her uncle told the jury: "Rania spoke about beating marks on her body and was mentally distressed about it.

"She would cry...insisting that she wanted a divorce.

"She said Ahmed could harm her."

Rania, 25, from Cheetham Hill in Manchester, vanished in June last year.

Prosecutors say her husband and his brother, Muhaned Al-Khatib, murdered the young mother because she sought independence and was becoming "too westernised".

A husband who says he killed his wife in self-defence because she appeared as an "evil apparition" has grabbed an interpreter by the neck and shook him against the dock wall at Manchester Crown Court.

Ahmed Al-Khatib had to be restrained after the outburst, as prosecutors outlined their case against him.

He is accused of murdering Rania Alayed because she was becoming "westernised" and trying to end their "violent" marriage. Her body has never been found.

Ahmed denies the charge, claiming he is mentally ill.

Jurors were told his defence case states he is subject to hallucinations and that he saw his wife turn into an "evil apparition" called a "jinn", which advanced upon him.

He says he struck the apparition in self defence.

His lawyers say they will provide expert evidence about the place of "jinns" within Islam.

Read more: Rania jury hears mobile phone was sent to Turkey

The mobile phone of a dead mother-of-three from Manchester was sent to Turkey to "give the impression" she was still alive, say prosecutors.

Rania's brother-in-law, Muhaned Al-Khatib, gave the device to a female friend of his who did not want to take her own phone on a foreign holiday.

A jury heard he provided the dead mother's mobile, describing it as his, on condition that a text message in Arabic be sent from Turkey.

A breakdown mechanic says a campervan, which prosecutors state was used to dump the body of a mother-of-three, had a "rancid smell".

Rania Alayed, from Manchester, vanished in June 2013. Her husband, Ahmed Al-Khatib, and brother-in-law, Muhaned Al-Khatib are accused of murdering her because they believed she was becoming "westernised".

Jurors at the city's Crown Court heard that the men drove her remains to a road layby in North Yorkshire, where they buried her. But the prosecution say, as they returned to Manchester, their vehicle broke down and Muhaned called the AA.

Recovery worker, Richard Sheardown, described a "stench" when he opened the back of the vehicle. Another member of AA staff also noticed an awful smell.

Ahmed and Munhaned Al-Khatib deny murder. A third defendant, Hussain Al-Khatib, denies perverting the course of justice over the alleged hiding of her body.

Read: Trial begins of men accused of murder with no body

A neighbour of Rania's brother-in-law heard shouting, banging and then screamingon the evening prosecutors say the mother-of-three was murdered at Muhaned Al-Khatib's flat.

Jurors heard that CCTV cameras captured Rania's husband, Ahmed Al-Khatib, leaving the flat wearing some of her clothes less than an hour after the killing.

This was a "deception that Rania Alayed was alive", they were told, because "minutes later, the body was being transported in a suitcase".

The trial has adjourned for the day and will resume tomorrow morning.

Rania developed a relationship with another man after leaving her husband Ahmed Al-Khatib, say the prosecution. She ended it because of a "shouting and angry" phone call from Ahmed's brother Muhaned.

The court was told the mother-of-three was asked to drop her children at her brother-in-law's flat in the early evening of 7 June 2013, so the youngsters could spend the weekend with her husband.

Rania was due to meet a friend after that drop-off. She did not turn up.

Rania's husband Ahmed Al-Khatib shouted out an unintelligible word from the dock, before banging his head repeatedly on the glass wall between himself and the courtroom.

Security staff immediately led him down into a holding area.

The judge has ordered a break in proceedings. It will resume shortly.