Day five of the trial of a 19 year old accused of the murder of Charley Bates has heard how the Radstock boy and his friends would often be at the park.

Hearing evidence from the last person from that day's friendship group, the jury heard that the area behind the library was a popular meet up point.

The witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons. told Bristol Crown Court that there was no expectation that there was going to be any fight involving Char on the day in question. " He would have been tense, he would have said something, " they told the court: " We were literally just catching up and there was no sign of anything about to happen. We were just hanging out. "

They also talked about how another friend brought a knife out of a bag carried by Char and was told to put it away, warning that there were police cameras directed at the park and they would get into trouble. But the court has previously been told that the CCTV cameras in that area were not working at that time.

In video evidence, the witness said there were around five people in one of the cars which pulled up in behind the library in Radstock and they all got out and got involved when a fight started. They then saw the defendant get out of his car, stab Charley in the chest and then drop and pick up a knife before driving away. As part of their eye witness account, they said they had seen the actual stabbing which had happened with Char with his hands in the air at the time.

The witness then was cross examined by defending counsel Charles Row KC about what their part they had played in hiding their friend's bag.

Admitting they knew the boys did have knives, they told the court : " I wish (hiding the bag) wasn't put on me. I ran in and out of the woods four or five times (with the bag) I did not know what to do. I regretted that decision. I didn't want to get into trouble, but it was said that if we just didn't say anything it might not be brought up. "

The rucksack, which was later found to contain a knife, a BB gun and the dead boy's mobile, was left under a tree stump in woods to the left hand side of the park.

When told that there were only two people involved in the first fight while the defendant initially stayed in his car, and not the up to ten they had claimed to see, they said : " I haven't made it up, That's what I remembered seeing."

For the final part of the court day, the jury heard six witness statements read out in court from those first on the scene, the police officers called in from Radstock police station, and emergency medical staff including those on the air ambulance, who had tried for 25 minutes to resuscitate Charley.

The trial will resume on Monday.

Joshua Delbono of Frome has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Charley Bates of Radstock at The Street on July 31 2022.