Agony of the mother who shopped son found guilty of attempted murder

Hilary Kellett, 47, says her son Liam Edwards, 27, thanked her for turning him in.

When she walked into court to give evidence, she said, 'he mouthed at me to keep calm and just tell the truth'.

Hillary Kellett: Shopping her son to police was the toughest decision of her life

But Mrs Kellet admitted: 'I am still wrestling with my conscience, wondering "did I do the right thing?" It was the toughest decision of my life.'

Edwards and his friend Adam Stebbing, 32, will be sentenced in September after their conviction at Winchester Crown Court.

Their victim Scott Speirs, 34, father of an eight-year-old son, has been in a coma since the assault in a Southampton park last December.

The court heard that the pair, who denied the charge, stamped on Mr Speirs's head at least 12 times and punched and kicked him before leaving him for dead.

Mrs Kellett became suspicious after overhearing her son talking on the phone to Stebbing, saying they had 'gone too far'.

She was violently sick with shock. She was also moved to tears after seeing Mr Speirs' mother on television, begging for somebody to come forward with information.

Mrs Kellett, from Southampton said her son had had a drugs problem since he was of 15.

She said: 'When he was off the drugs he was one of the nicest people you could meet  -  but when he was on them it was like someone had flicked a switch in his head.

'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.

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

'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.'

Even so, she said calling the police was the hardest thing she had ever done and after her court appearance, 'I have never cried so much'.

She added: 'I'm not sure I would do it again. I have upset so many people and I feel I have betrayed my kids.'