A FATHER smiled smugly before tilting the head of his ten-month-old son and cutting his throat in a baker's shop, a court heard yesterday.

Barrister Mukhtar Hussein told Carlisle Crown Court that Bangladeshi Tandoori chef Shahajan Kabir carried out the murder after a row with the baby's mother, Lorna Martin, over access to the child.

He said that the court would hear that illegal immigrant Kabir, 40, went into a busy bakery in Carlisle, in Cumbria, to confront Lorna, 21, before brandishing the 12in blade, which was hidden in newspapers inside his jacket.

He then attacked the baby, Hassan Martin.

His mother and grandmother, Pauline Martin, were also stabbed as they tried to stop the attack.

Mr Hussein said: "The court will hear that the defendant went into Greggs bakery at 10.45am and demanded to see his son.

"Lorna Martin told him that the matter was in the hands of solicitors and that he would have to deal with them.

"He then pulled out a knife from a newspaper he had in a plastic bag inside his jacket.

"It is our case that he knocked Lorna Martin to the floor, and, seeming proud of himself, grabbed Hassan by a bib around his neck, tilted his head, and smiled, looking smug and pleased with himself.

"He then used the knife to cause a 17 centimetre cut from just below Hassan'sleft ear lobe."

Mr Kabir has pleaded not guilty to murdering his son and also denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to his estranged partner and her mother.

The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.