Zakari Bennett-Eko: Baby boy 'died after being thrown in river by dad'

Zakari William Bennett-Eko was found in the River Irwell

An 11-month-old baby boy died after he was thrown into a river by his father, a jury has heard.

A court, sitting at Salford's Lowry theatre, was told Zakari Bennett-Eko died after being thrown into the River Irwell in Radcliffe in September 2019.

Prosecutor Rob Hall said Zak Bennett-Eko, who had paranoid schizophrenia, was "simply" guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

He added that he would not seek to convict the 23-year-old of murder.

Mr Hall said Mr Bennett-Eko, who was too unwell to attend court, had thrown Zakari into the river at about 16:20 BST on 11 September 2019.

"Due to the inaccessibility of the river and strength of the current, it was about an hour before emergency services were able to rescue Zakari, by which time his heart had stopped and he was very cold," he said.

The jury was told Zakari had been pronounced dead at Royal Bolton Hospital a short time later.

Mr Hall said there was no dispute Mr Bennett-Eko was suffering from mental illness and the prosecution case was "simply that the defendant... is guilty of manslaughter by reason of his responsibility being diminished by his mental illness".

He said the defence case was that the 23-year-old was "not guilty by reason of insanity from his mental illness", before adding that "the defence accept that in the alternative" he would be guilty of the prosecution's charge.

Judge Mr Justice Fraser told the jury they would hear evidence from experts about the defendant's mental health and "must decide" whether it was more likely "he did not know what he was doing when he threw his son into the river or... he did not know what he was doing was wrong".

Making reference to the court setting, on one of the venue's stages, he added it was "a bit unusual to be sitting in a theatre", but the building was "for all intents and purposes" a crown court and "the fact it is a theatre is not going to change the trial process at all".

The case continues.