Mother reported son in murder case

The mother of a 16-year-old Staffordshire boy accused of murdering a factory worker in a drunken attack has told a jury she reported her son to the police after seeing blood on his head.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, "put two and two together" after spotting the blood as she chased him down the street, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Father-of-five Michael Eccles, aged 43, died on January 26, a day after sustaining serious injuries in a street attack just metres from his front door in Lichfield.

Carl Keatley, aged 20, of Greencroft, Lichfield, and the 16-year-old from Lichfield, who cannot be identified, both deny murder.

Giving evidence, the teenage defendant's mother described how, barefoot and wearing her dressing gown, she had gone looking for him after realising the drunk state he was in.

She saw people crowded around Mr Eccles's body and then spotted her son with Keatley with blood on his head.

The Crown alleges the teenager's father, who cannot be named, tried to help his son cover up the crime by washing blood from his hair. He denies perverting the course of justice.

The trial continues.