Man, 21, killed lover, 43, in 'merciless' attack after husband discovered their affair

A man killed his lover in a "merciless" attack that lasted 50 minutes with a knife and scissors after her husband found out about their affair, a court has heard.

David Cheres, 21, is accused of kicking and slashing at Tiprat Argatu, 43, at her home in Whitechapel, east London, in the early hours of 24 January last year.

He has admitted her manslaughter by diminished responsibility and is on trial at the Old Bailey in London for murder, which he denies.

The court heard that Cheres stamped on Argatu, breaking bones in her face and neck.

The attack at a flat on Ellen Street happened hours after her husband found out about her affair with Cheres, the court heard.

Opening the case on Monday, prosecutor James Dawes KC said: "Between 4am and 4.50am – a period of about 50 minutes – the defendant battered and kicked a woman to death in her bedroom.

"Tiprat suffered a savage and prolonged attack at the hands of this defendant."

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Dawes said: “She was unarmed and offered little resistance. The defendant stabbed and slashed at her head and neck repeatedly with those weapons, cutting her.

“He used so much force with the scissors that he bent them in half.

“Tiprat appears to have held up her hands in order to try to defend herself because some of the stab and slash wounds were on her hands and fingers.

“He stamped on her neck, breaking bones and her larynx. He smashed the bones in her face and neck.”

It was not possible to determine the order in which the wounds were inflicted because no one witnessed it, Dawes said.

“But you may conclude that this attack took time, took effort and it was relentless and merciless,” he added.

A pathologist concluded the cause of death was severe blunt impact trauma to the head and neck.

Dawes suggested the motive was linked to the defendant’s feelings about “the way his life was going” and the loss of his friendship with the victim’s husband.

Cheres had been friends with Argatu’s spouse, who had discovered their affair just hours earlier, the court heard.

Dawes said: “Perhaps he blamed himself or her for the breaking of this friendship.

“What is clear, he directed this outburst of anger at Tiprat – not at himself – in the small hours of the morning, about 12 hours after (her husband) had discovered that they were having an affair.”

The court heard that the victim was originally from Thailand and her husband is Romanian.

Cheres, also of Ellen Street, Whitechapel, denies murder and the trial continues.