Mum who called cops after son stabbed teen to death 'would do the same again'
A teenage killer’s mother has no regrets about turning him into the police and says she'd do it again.
Joshua Delbono, 19, was jailed for 21 years last week at Bristol Crown Court for the brutal murder of 16-year-old Charley Bates following an altercation in a pub car park in the Somerset town of Radstock.
When she found out what her son had done, which included stabbing Charley multiple times, his 42-year-old mum Donna immediately called 999.
“My son’s killed someone,” she calmly told the recipient on the other end of her emergency call when asked what had happened.
“It was at Radstock earlier – he’s just come back and I’ve just found out. He’s in my house now, but I can’t let him go anywhere.”
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Charley Bates, 16, was stabbed numerous times by Joshua Delbono (PA)
Delbono will serve 21 years (Avon and Somerset Constabulary /)The call handler asked: “Does he know you’re on the phone?”, to which she replied: “Yeh, he’s here, I’ve told him I’ve got to do it.”
In what must be one of the hardest situations a parent can ever find themselves in, Donna - who has six other children - insists she had no regrets over making the call and would do it again in a heartbeat.
She told the Mail Online: “I was brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, and to always try to do the right thing in life, no matter how hard it is.
“Even though it was such a tough choice to make, I know I’d do the same again.
“I couldn’t have lived with myself if I’d chosen instead not to call the police – I feel terrible that Charley Bates lost his life and my sympathies go out to his family.”
Her son, a bricklayer, was found unanimously guilty of murder following a two-week trial and will now serve 21 years behind bars.
He stabbed Charley numerous times in a frenzied attack on the evening of July 31, 2022, before throwing away the murder weapon and burning his clothes.
Paramedics raced to the scene, but were unable to save the 16-year-old and it was in the early hours of the following morning that Donna rang the police and told them what had happened after her daughter Jade told her what he had done, with Joshua admitting everything to her.
“He said he was too terrified to call the police, so I said if he wouldn’t call them, I would,” she told the Mail.
“So I grabbed my phone and dialled 999. My son will have to live with this for the rest of his life.”
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