A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years after he was found guilty of murdering schoolboy Alex Rodda, 15.

Matthew Mason, 20, beat Alex to death with a metal wrench after driving him to a secluded area in Ashley, Cheshire, on December 12 last year. He had been having underage sex with Alex in the months leading up to his death and did not want their relationship to be exposed, Chester Crown Court heard.

Before the attack, Mason, who was 18 at the time, had paid Alex more than £2,000 over a three-week period in a bid to stop the secret coming out, jurors were told.

After killing Alex, he stayed with his body for around an hour before leaving and meeting up with friends for a drink, which would later form a basis of his alibi.

In a victim impact statement read in court today, Alex’s dad, Alex Rodda Snr, paid tribute to his ‘beautiful little boy’. He said: ‘Alex would often end a call and he would always say “I love you” at the end of every phone call to his mum and to me.

‘He would say this irrespective if his friends were there or not. It never stopped him. He always contributed himself to things he wanted and customers at work loved Alex, his confidence and happiness and he made an impression on people who would do anything else but love him.

‘I have lost count of the amount of times customers said how lovely he was. He would always give them a hug and a kiss. But I will never get over the loss of our beautiful little boy.

‘I will never get the chance to see him experience things in life that we all take for granted; having a loving relationship, getting married, having children, learning to drive and owning a car – something he was particular looking forward to.

‘I am personally devastated for my poor boy feeling scared and alone before his death. I will not rest until I know what happened to my little boy. If I know the suffering he went through I can also suffer the pain he suffered and I can share the pain, then I would feel he has not suffered alone.

‘I will never know what happened. I feel like I failed to protect my beautiful boy and I will never get over that feeling.’

Alex’s mum Lisa also described her son as the ‘biggest treasure’ in her life, and stated that she had experienced hell after losing him in the ‘most brutal and horrific circumstances’.

Sentencing Mason, Judge Everett said: ‘This was a premeditated murder, carefully planned and, in my judgment, ruthlessly carried out showing no empathy for your victim and a callous disregard for his family and friends.’

He went on: ‘What is clear to me is that Alex was a much loved son grandson, brother and also a friend to many young persons.

Although I accept he may have initiated contact with you, I am sure you not only responded to it, but actively encouraged a sexual relationship by sending him messages and the image you sent him of your erect penis and a video of you masturbating.

‘In that regard, you clearly encouraged your young victim to involve himself in what was clearly his first real sexual experience. In other words, you groomed him. You were only thinking about yourself and you cared not a jot for anybody else.

‘He didn’t realise the consequences of what he was doing, you clearly understood this. In reality not only were you much older, not just in years, but more emotionally mature than him.

‘In the days leading up to his death you send him messages inviting him to have sex in some special or secret place. You deliberately took that heavy wrench and you chose that spot. It was a devastating weapon.’

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