THE mother of a schoolboy found dead in remote woodland has told a court of the moment she looked into his killer's 'soulless' eyes.

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

Matthew Mason, 19, denies murdering the teenager after paying more than £2,000 to stop him revealing their sexual relationship.

On Thursday, Alex's mother Lisa Rodda told Chester Crown Court she had returned to their home in Pickmere on December 7 and saw Mason at the top of the stairs with Alex, who explained he was a friend.

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 said Mason left the house without speaking.

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."

Mrs Rodda broke down in tears after describing the scene.

She 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 Mason, who told her he had driven Alex to Holmes Chapel and he had said he was going into Manchester shopping.

She said: "I knew he was lying."

She told the court Mason offered to come to her house to speak to her.

"I told him to stay away, not to come, I was ringing the police," she said.

"It made me nervous that he wanted to come to my house.

"I ended the call. I screamed not to come near my house."

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.

She said: "He was just such a joy to be around. He was just so gentle."

She said he "flourished" when he started high school although he was bullied for a time.

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

"I told him that whatever he was it was alright to be himself, to be free," she said.

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