Nineteen year old Joshua Delbono is charged that on July 31 last year he stabbed sixteen year old Charley Bates at The Street in Radstock.

The opening evidence has been given at the high profile trial underway in Bristol.

Before Judge William Hart, the court was told that Joshua, who was 18 at the time, had fled the scene and drove with his friends and girlfriend to Sheerwater Lake where they got rid of the knife and burnt some of his clothing.

Adam Vaitilingam KC for the Prosecution told the court of the timeline of the events which led to the death of Charley, who was stabbed in the heart, at the edge of the car park behind the library in Radstock. Counsel told the court that in spite of the best efforts of a doctor, the police and later the air ambulance, Charley died of an "unsurvivable" wound , with an 11 cm deep stab to his heart.

The time line of the summer stabbing in the centre of Radstock was over the course of mere minutes, with one fatal injury leaving Charley lying in the carpark at twenty to seven and tragically bleeding to death.

The prosecution told the court that Charley and six of his friends had been spending time in the car park at The Street in Radstock. The area was, the prosecution told the jury, normally covered by CCTV but that at the time it was not working. So he would be relying on eyewitness accounts from his friends, to describe what happened.

The CCTV that was available showed Charley and his friends gathering in Radstock in a sunny afternoon after visiting shops on Fortescue Road. They were then all together in the car park and at just before 6.30 pm in the evening, two cars arrived.

The first car drew up and there was a discussion between the occupant of that car and Charley which disintegrated into a row. It was during this row, that the accused got out of this car, with a knife and Charley was stabbed.

At just before midnight that night, the court heard a recording of a call Delbono's mother made to police in which she told the officer that her son had killed someone. The accused then came on the call and said he had used a knife like a kitchen knife, with a five inch blade, but that he had never intended to murder anyone.

Earlier Bristol Crown Court heard that Charley had himself brought a bag to the car park in Radstock which contained a knife and a BB gun but did not have it on him during the incident. His friends did not tell police about the bag and one of them later threw the bag away. The KC said it was up to the jury to decide whether this was relevant or not.

Those friends gave video evidence to police officers where it was alleged that Delbono shouted after stabbing Charley: " That's what you get for being a pussy, " while the defendant's girlfriend added " Do not mess with us." One of the friends told officers that a fight had ensued between Charley someone in another car following a " an argument over a small amount of money."

The court is expected to hear from nine eyewitnesses including friends of Charley and emergency services

In a statement Delbono said he and his friends were " bored" and it was his friend's idea to go to Radstock. He said: " I saw four males I could not hear what was being said, all of sudden Charley started fighting with him... more people became involved. I was really shocked at at first.... I saw the black handle of a knife and that's when I really panicked. " He picked up a knife in his car, which he told officers had been left there by "the person who I had bought the car from" and got out of the vehicle.

He added " Charley took a swing to me, and in the melee this happened, it was a chance encounter which escalated in a way which I never expected. I am truly devastated."

After the stabbing, the accused drove away from the scene, and with his girlfriend and friends to the cafe at Shearwater where they were caught on CCTV. According to the prosecution it was there that they disposed of the weapon and where Delbono, shown on photographs taken on his girlfriend's mobile, burnt some of his clothes.

The court then heard from the Home Office pathologist who said it was likely that Charley's death was very swift with one deep wound causing internal bleeding into the chest cavity.

In total Charley had four separate injuries, but that at least one of them could have been caused by emergency aid carried out on Charley. However under cross examination by the defence counsel Charles Row KC, Charley had no broken bones, no significant bruising, deep or otherwise and no facial injuries.

Delbono pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering Charley Bates on July 31 2022. The trial is expected to last three weeks and the judge warned the jury not to discuss what he referenced as a high profile case on social media or with family.

The trial had been postponed since January 23 when additional scientific evidence was introduced.