The boy looked “sad in the eyes and lonely” at school as the mother and stepfather stood trial for murder

Touching tribute was paid to Sebastian Kalinowski as his mother and stepfather stand trial for his murder.

Sebastian was found with serious injuries at his home in Leeds Road, Huddersfield on August 13 last year.

Leeds Crown Court heard he had been abused and subjected to a catalog of violent behavior by his mother Agnieszka Kalinowska and stepfather Andrezej Latoszewski for several months.

They were indicted last year and are on trial for murder, manslaughter, causing or enabling the death of a child and neglect.

On Tuesday Latoszewski pleaded guilty to manslaughter and on Thursday both defendants pleaded guilty to cruelty to a child under the age of 16.

Footage was playing on the pitch showing Sebastian being hit by a bed slat and flogged with an extension cord while performing exercises.

The court has so far heard from members of the West Yorkshire Police and Ambulance Service and a nurse and adviser from the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, as well as two family friends, speaking of “punishments” imposed on him by the defendants.

On Friday, the jury only sat half the day as staff at North Huddersfield Trust School testified and paid tribute to Sebastian, who was described as “shy” and “quiet”, “always pleasant” and “lovely boy,” reported live in yorkshire.

A pastoral leader who knew Sebastian as “Sebba” said: “He was much shorter than many of his classmates. His learning attitude was always spot on.

“I often saw him walking alone during the lunch hour. He always smiled.

“Sebastian was a shy, quiet boy but had a fun personality. He liked learning games. He was just a lovely boy.

“Just before school ended, I saw him skipping down the hallway. He saw me and smiled.

“Sebba hasn’t really changed in the time I’ve known him. He looked sad but always smiled.”

Another teacher said: “When I first met him, I thought how small he was for his age.

“He always presented himself well and flawlessly, but in his eyes he seemed sad and lonely.

“He wasn’t like your average boy his age. He was always friendly whenever I spoke to him and was like a quiet, shy mouse.

“What I immediately noticed about him is that he was very calm.

“Sebastian wasn’t a very confident kid. I noticed that quickly and became friends with him, feel sorry for him.

“He always engaged with me, smiled with me. I felt like he felt safe with me, but he wasn’t laughing or engaging with the other kids, but he did have a sense of humor.”

A teacher told the court about an incident she had around Easter 2021 in which Latoszewski was involved.

She said: “I was walking towards the gate but there was a man gesturing at two other staff members and me.

“The other employee waved him over to me. He seemed quite aggressive and was waving his arms around but it could be misconstrued as aggressive it can be but it can also try to get a point across but his whole body language.

“He started screaming and said Sebastian is a liar, I shouldn’t listen to him, even his father says he’s lying.

“I held out my hand as he came right in my face, I held out my palm. I said all we know and what we’ve seen is that Sebastian is a lovely student, he’s a nice boy, he’s smart and articulate. “

The woman told the court Latoszewski “does not appear to have asked for help from the school, he only appeared to be making a statement.

He didn’t mention the marks, just said he was a liar.”

She added that she felt “actually threatened.”

She told jurors she tried to talk to Sebastian about what happened, “but he didn’t want to talk about it at all.”

She said: “He didn’t want to make eye contact and I asked if he was ok and he always kept his eyes and head down so I put my hand under his chin so I could get eye contact.

“He said he was fine. I asked if he was ok and if he felt safe and he said ‘I’m fine miss’.

“Because I was worried, I was really worried. There was nothing specific, if there had been bruises or anything I could have reported it or if Sebastian had said something I could have done it. I couldn’t because it was just my feelings.”

The woman added that mother Kalinowska “didn’t seem interested”.

She said, “I’d say ‘he did really well today, he got the highest score today’, but you wouldn’t get anything back.”

The teacher said there were language difficulties, but she felt Kalinowska understood.

She said she felt cold towards Sebastian and “there was distance, it didn’t look like a loving relationship.

“I thought she was suffering from partner abuse at first, I’ve seen it on many occasions. There was definitely a chill.”

The court heard that Sebastian was offered a place at the school during the lockdown but was turned down and he was the only pupil offered a place but did not take part.

The deputy principal and designated head of protection at the school said no protection concerns had been raised for Sebastian.

He said if Sebastian misbehaved he would find out about it and “he had one negative point the whole time he was with us and that was he forgot his gear”.

During the police investigation, the deputy director said he reviewed Sebastian’s work, specifically an ad titled “My Description,” on which he wrote, “I don’t like teaching,” but didn’t go into further detail and “I don’t know I don’t like to listen man” and “I don’t like to clean”.