Charley Bates murder accused handed in by mother

Charley Bates was fatally stabbed in Radstock

A 19-year-old accused of stabbing a rival to death was handed over to police by his mother, a court has heard.

Joshua Delbono is on trial at Bristol Crown Court for the murder of 16-year-old Charley Bates in Radstock, Somerset, on 31 July last year.

Charley was knifed to death in a car park near the town's library.

The defendant has admitted stabbing Charley but denies murder, claiming he was protecting a friend.

'Bad feeling'

There was a "history of bad feeling" between Charley and one of Mr Delbono's friends, jurors were told on Monday.

The court heard Charley had been hanging out with a group of six friends at about 18.30 BST when two vehicles drove into the car park.

Mr Delbono, from Frome, was at the wheel of the second car, prosecutor Adam Vaitilingham KC said.

An exchange of insults between Charley and the defendant's friend rapidly escalated into a fight between the two groups.

The defendant then allegedly exited his vehicle armed with a five-inch knife, the jury heard, and stabbed the victim several times.

Mr Delbono shouted "don't mess with us again" as he and his friends left the scene, witnesses reported, while Charley bled to death.

The whole incident lasted less than five minutes.

'My son's killed someone'

The defendant and his friends made for Shearwater Lake, near Warminster in Wiltshire, where he threw away the knife and burned some of his clothes.

One of Mr Delbono's group filmed the blaze on their phone, the court heard.

It was the defendant's mother who called the police when he returned to his home in Frome.

In the call, played to the court, she said: "My son's killed someone. He's in my house now, I can't let him go anywhere."

The court heard that Charley had also taken a bag containing a knife and a BB gun to the car park on the night of his death.

Following the stabbing, one of his friends dumped it in nearby woodland but it was recovered by police.

Charley's friends said he was not armed during the fight, the jury heard.

'Chance encounter'

Mr Delbono initially made no comment to police questions, but later admitted stabbing someone.

In a prepared statement, he said: "I thought my friend was being stabbed - this caused me to react."

He said he knew the person he had bought his vehicle from had left a knife inside but that he didn't mean to cause Charley serious harm.

"I didn't realise he was hurt. It was a chance encounter. I'm truly devastated Charley was fatally injured, it was never my intention," he said.

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

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