direct to your inboxA jury was told how Alex Rodda's 'life was cut short before it had really begun' as prosecution and defence lawyers delivered their closing speeches in a trial today.Matthew Mason, 19, is charged with beating the schoolboy to death with a large metal tool in a woodland area near the village of Ashley, Cheshire, on December 12 last year.Mr Mason, then 18, murdered the 15-year-old after they entered into a sexual relationship, the prosecution alleges.He paid Alex more than £2,000 over a three-week period after Alex allegedly threatened to reveal the relationship, jurors have been told.Mr Mason ‘didn’t want anyone to know he was gay’, the jury has already heard.Mr Gordon Cole QC, Mr Mason’s lawyer, earlier told the court.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk