Mother weeps as she recounts moment her son told her he had killed a man

A mother wept in court today as she told a jury of the moment her 17-year-old son told her he had killed someone.
Bamford denies murdering Mr Jefferies. The case continuesBamford denies murdering Mr Jefferies. The case continues
Bamford denies murdering Mr Jefferies. The case continues

Anne Marie Bamford spoke at Lewes Crown Court earlier today of the shock she felt when her son, distraught in his bedroom at home, shouted: “‘I think I killed somebody.’”

Her son, Ben Bamford, now 18, is accused of the murder of Paul Jefferies, 52, in a house in Mayfield, East Sussex on Tuesday, February 23.

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Jurors heard his mother’s testimony in court this afternoon.

Bamford did not come home on the night of the incident, Mrs Bamford said, and she awoke to a text on her phone the next morning saying he was at Eastbourne Hospital.

At the hospital Mrs Bamford found her son with a bandaged hand and arm.

The hospital had called the crisis team because of a self harming incident, according to Caroline Carberry, one of the prosecutors.

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“He just said initially that something had happened. Some man attacked him,” said Mrs Bamford.

“He did not really want to talk about it. I could see he was in pain.”

She said Bamford revealed he had told medical staff the injuries were self inflicted so that police would not be involved.

Bamford was then taken to Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for specialist surgery on his hand, and was discharged home the following day (Thursday).

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Mrs Bamford left for work on the Friday morning but was later called by her husband, Richard, who told her that Bamford was in trouble.

He told his wife that their son owed £400 to someone. He said he had gone to the cash machine to get some of it as Bamford did not have enough in his account.

Mrs Bamford came home and went to speak to her son in his bedroom, asking him what was going on.

Bamford did not want to talk about it then but his mother said she insisted.

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She then told the court she said to him: “you have been injured, you owe money of course I need to know what is going on.”

He shouted at her to leave and, getting more and more upset, smashed a mirror.

“And then he shouted out ‘I think I killed somebody’,” she told the court.

When asked again he confirmed: “‘I have killed somebody’” she told the court with tears in her eyes.

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“I just sat there, I did not really know what to say,” said Mrs Bamford.

Bamford told her that a knife had been involved and that he had stabbed a man at an address in Mayfield, she said.

She told jurors he told her “the man had come on to him and tried to rape him and he was trying to get away.

“He said that he did actually stab him.”

While Mrs Bamford was not aware of her son having any connection with the victim at the time, jurors were read texts showing a connection between Mr Jefferies and the defendant going back several months.

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She told him that they had to go to the police, which he accepted, and they agreed to go the following morning.

His mother was present at Eastbourne Police Station when her son was arrested on suspicion of murder, a charge he denies.

The case continues.

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