Teenager accused of killing Cheshire school boy confessed to ex-girlfriend, court told
Alex Rodda, 15, was found dead in woodland in Ashley last December.
The ex-girlfriend of a teenager accused of murder has told a court he broke down in tears and confessed to the crime.
Matthew Mason, 19, allegedly killed 15-year-old Alex Rodda in remote woodland in Ashley, Cheshire, on 12th December 2019.
A trial at Chester Crown Court has heard Alex, who was bludgeoned to death with a wrench, was blackmailing Mason over a sexual relationship.
Giving evidence on Monday, Mason's former girlfriend Caitlyn Lancashire, 19, said when she visited him following his arrest he started to cry after telling her he had been giving money to Alex.
Ian Unsworth QC, prosecuting, asked her: "Did he say to you 'I've killed him'?''
Miss Lancashire replied: "Yes.''
Mr Unsworth said: "Was he crying for quite a while after that?''
Miss Lancashire said: "Yes.''
She said he told her Alex had got angry and hit him first.
Miss Lancashire told the court Mason, who lived with his family on a farm near Knutsford, said he had given about £2,000 to Alex.
The court heard Mason and Miss Lancashire were in a relationship for about two years but split up in November last year when Alex messaged her and told her Mason had been speaking to him and sent him an explicit picture.
She said: "As soon as I got the messages through from Alex I broke up with him.''
She told the court she stayed in touch with Mason, who denied anything had happened with Alex.
On 12th December, the night of Alex's death, Mason sent her a picture of himself smiling in bed, with no top on, at about 10.20pm, the court heard.
The following morning, he sent pictures of his feet in the floor of his car and when she asked if he was OK replied "I'm fine'', the court heard.
Miss Lancashire said later that day she was contacted by a friend of Alex's who asked her if she knew where Mason and Alex were.
She said she spoke to Mason on the phone.
She told the court: "I was shouting 'where are you, where's Alex?'''
He told her Alex had been "mithering'' him for a lift so he had taken him to a pub in Holmes Chapel, the jury heard.
She said Mason seemed "like he already knew'' when she told him police were involved in trying to find Alex.
Miss Lancashire confirmed Mason seemed upset but she believed that was because she was angry with him for seeing Alex when he had promised her he would not.
The court heard he told her he knew he should not have picked Alex up and said: "I don't know why I have done it, I'm confused to why I have done it.''
Miss Lancashire said her last contact with Mason was when he tried calling her a couple of weeks ago.
She said: "I answered and asked him to stop ringing me.''
Mason, of Ash Lane, Ollerton, denies murder.
The jury has been told it may have to consider whether he killed Alex in self-defence or experienced a loss of control.