A distressed mother broke down as she told a jury she snatched a knife from her daughter’s killer moments before he stuck another weapon into her heart.

Geeta Bhatt wept in the witness box at Bradford Crown Court as she described seeing Til Bahadur Rana holding Beena Bhatt, 18, with a knife to her chest.

She said: “I tried to help Beena, to get her away. I tried to snatch the knife off him but he was holding Beena so tight. I was able to snatch the knife off him but he struck it on my hand.”

Rana, 34, denies murdering Miss Bhatt at his flat in Landmark House, Broadway, Bradford, on April 8. He admits manslaughter and unlawfully wounding Mrs Bhatt.

The jury has heard that Rana turned the knife on himself, inflicting stab wounds. The prosecution alleges that Rana, a chef in the Tulsi restaurant in Bradford’s Centenary Square, threatened to kill Beena and himself if their relationship ended.

The court has heard that Rana and Miss Bhatt were found together in a pool of blood in Rana’s bedroom.

Miss Bhatt died soon afterwards of a stab wound to the heart. Rana had wounds to the abdomen. Her mother told the jury yesterday Rana went to attack Miss Bhatt with a knife two days before he killed her.

Mrs Bhatt said she intervened, seizing the weapon and throwing it into another room at his flat.

On April 8, she and Beena went to the flat to collect items belonging to her daughter after the relationship had broken up.

Rana took Miss Bhatt into his bedroom for a private conversation.

Rana’s flatmate, Vishwanath Shetty, said, via video link from India, that he saw Miss Bhatt on the floor and Rana kicking her head.

He was holding a knife and he stabbed her in the chest and back.

Mr Shetty said he tried to protect Miss Bhatt by pushing Rana out of the room. He then saw Rana stabbing himself, saying: “If Beena is not going to live, I don’t want to live any more.

The trial continues.