15-Year-Old Bludgeoned To Death By Teen Lover For Threatening To Expose Sexual Relationship, Court Told

A teenager beat his 15-year-old schoolboy lover to death after the latter threatened to expose their sexual relationship, a British court has heard.

Matthew Mason, son of a farmer, murdered Alex Rodda by repeatedly battering him with a long wrench after Rodda blackmailed him seeking $3,500, said a report that appeared in News.Com.au.

According to prosecutor Ian Unsworth QC, Mason, 19, took Alex Rodda to woodland on the outskirts of Ashley, a small village not far from Bowdon in Cheshire, for a "sexual encounter," which turned into a gruesome murder.

Rodda's partially-clothed remains were found by refuse collectors last December after he was reported missing.

The Chester Crown Court heard how the duo enjoyed an "intimate sexual relationship" until Rodda began threatening the accused.

As per a report by BBC News, weeks before he was killed, Alex Rodda had contacted Mason's girlfriend and informed her that Mason was messaging him "in a flirty way". By November, Mason had paid $3540 to Rodda, to avoid publically posting explicit photos and videos shared by him.

According to the prosecutor, Rodda had told a friend that Mason was paying him for sex and if the payments stopped, he would report him to the police. "The friend had warned Alex Rodda that his actions were akin to blackmail and wrong," he said. Messages recovered from Mason showed him complaining that the payments were "cleaning him out."

“For reasons, you may conclude, borne out of that relationship, the defendant took Alex to a remote wooded area. There, the defendant used a heavy and long wrench to beat Alex to the head and body over and over again," Unsworth said.

He added, "The attack was brutal and merciless. The overall pattern of the injuries was indicative of a violent repetitive assault with that wrench estimated to have involved the landing of at least 15 separate heavy blows. Alex did not stand a chance. His life ended in those woods. The case for the prosecution is that Matthew Mason took Alexander Rodda to the woods on the pretense of sexual activity and then murdered him in cold blood.”

Jurors also heard how Alex was openly gay and attended Holmes Chapel school. He had known Mason for some months leading up to his death, it was said.

Mason, meanwhile, has denied the charges.