Alex Rodda death: Mum warned son to 'stay away' from accused

The mother of a schoolboy found dead in remote woodland told a court she warned her son to "stay away" from the man later accused of killing him.

Alex Rodda, 15, was beaten to death with a wrench in Ashley, Cheshire, on December 12 last year.

His mother Lisa told Chester Crown Court she felt fear when introduced to Matthew Mason at their home.

Mr Mason, 19, denies murdering the teen after paying £2,000 to stop him revealing their sexual relationship.

Mrs Rodda said she saw Mr Mason at the top of the stairs with Alex, who explained he was a friend, when had returned to her home in Pickmere, near Knutsford, on 7 December 2019.

She told the court: "When I looked into that boy's eyes, I have never ever in my life felt fear... my whole body felt fear.

"His eyes were soulless. He was cold and soulless. He already had that motive in his mind."

She added: "I said to Alex 'stay away from that man'. I felt it, what he was going to do to my boy, I felt it."

She said Mr Mason, of Ash Lane, Ollerton, left the house without speaking.

Mrs Rodda told the jury that on the evening of Alex's death she had believed he was at a friend's house but became concerned when he did not answer her phone calls.

She contacted his friends and eventually got in touch with Mr Mason, who told her he had driven Alex to Holmes Chapel and he had said he was going into Manchester shopping.

"I knew he was lying," she told the court.

She told the jury that Alex, a pupil at Holmes Chapel High School, had been a "miracle baby" for her and former husband Adam Rodda.

Mrs Rodda said Alex told her he was gay at 13.

The jury has been told it will have to consider whether Mr Mason killed Alex in self-defence or experienced a loss of control

The trial continues.

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