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Hillary Kellett

Hillary Kellett wept yesterday as her son Liam Edwards and his friend Adam Stebbing were convicted of the attempted murder of dad-of-one Scott Speirs. She tells MELANIE ADAMS how she wrestled with her conscience before shopping her son to police

FOR the rest of her life she will wrestle with her conscience over whether she did the right thing. Shopping her own son to police for his part in a violent attack that left a young dad in a virtual coma was the toughest decision Hillary Kellett has ever had to make.

But it was his volatile state and her fear of what he might do next that eventually forced the 47-year-old to make that call.

Yesterday as Liam Edwards - the second eldest of her five children - was convicted of the attempted murder of Scott Speirs, all she could do was cry.

For the past four weeks she has sat in the public gallery of Winchester Crown Court, just a few metres from Scott's family and his eight-year-old son Charlie, to see her boy brought to justice.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, she said: "I had to do something. I was worried that maybe in a couple of weeks he may kill someone or he would be killed. That is how bad he had got.

"I was hoping I could persuade him to hand himself in, but he just got worse and worse and I couldn't get him on his own. Adam was always around."

Torn with anguish, knowing what her son had done, Mrs Kellett made repeated attempts to call police.

"He came to me and said he needed help. I asked in what way and he said he couldn't explain because he said I would disown him.

Liam Edwards

"He said he needed to be stopped and as he read the article in the Daily Echo I could see he was about to burst into tears. I could tell he was really disgusted as what he had done.

"I would try ringing the police but I would get to the last digit and just couldn't hit it.

"In the end it got to the stage that I didn't have any choice. When I was reading in the Daily Echo that Scott had been rushed into the operating theatre, I didn't know the extent of his injuries but thought that if they were doing operations on this poor man's head it must have been pretty bad."

Mrs Kellett added: "Liam said how horrific it was and I said to him that I couldn't believe he had attacked somebody so horribly. In the state that he was in I was scared of him, of what he might do.

"I just sat there and thought of Sue Speirs, having read her words in the Daily Echo, and thought if that was my boy I would want someone to come forward.

Mrs Kellett said her son had had a drugs problem since the age of 15. She had failed several times to get him into rehab, and drugs changed his personality. She said: "It was like someone had flicked a switch in his head. When he was off the drugs he was one of the nicest people you could meet.

"Telling the police was not an easy decision and I am still wrestling with my conscience now, wondering did I do the right thing? It was the toughest decision of my life."

The next battle came when Mrs Kellett was asked to make a statement and give evidence in court.

"I said I wouldn't do that. I had given the police the rope - I wasn't going to hang the boy as well.

"I told him years ago if he did anything really horrific, really hurt someone badly, I would hand him in myself. I think in the end he told me because he wanted me to do just that.

"I'm not sure whether I would do it again. I have upset so many people. I have those who say I did the right thing but I don't feel very brave - I feel like I have betrayed my kids.

"Then there are others who say I shouldn't have done it, that you don't grass on people."

Since Edward's arrest, Mrs Kellett says she has had no contact with her son because she was to be a witness against him at the trial.

"When I walked into court he mouthed at me to keep calm and just tell the truth.

"I was meant to give my evidence from behind a screen but I felt that I hadn't done anything wrong and I wanted to face the pair of them.

"After I had finished he said Thanks mum for what you did'. I haven't cried so much. If he can understand why I had to do it then why can't everyone else? My conscience is clear, I think.

"It's over for us apart from all the shouting but for Sue Speirs, she's got a life sentence."

Mrs Kellett supplied the Daily Echo with a picture of her son, Liam Edwards. Hampshire police refused to release official pictures of the two convicted men, despite requests from the Daily Echo, until sentencing in September.

11:54am Saturday 26th July 2008

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