The mother of a teenager accused of murder gave evidence against her son today.

Deborah Evans told a jury at Teesside Crown Court that Kevin Littlewood phoned her and said he had fought with John Paul Robert Jeffries, whose body was found last January beaten to death and wedged in rocks near Hartlepool Marina.

Mr Jeffries, also 18, had been missing for six days.

Her son denies murder and also denies a charge of theft of a video recorder and CD player belonging to Mr Jeffries' father.

Mrs Evans said: "He said he had had a fight with a boy called John Paul Jeffries and he said he might have hurt him and that he might be dead.

"I didn't believe him. He is always exaggerating. I thought it was a story he had made up."

She said she had no contact with her son between the ages of 14 and 16 but before that he had had "mood swings", had seen a psychiatrist at the age of 12 and was placed on medication.

David Lane QC, for 18-year-old Mr Littlewood, put it to Mrs Evans that her son had "no recollection" of saying he had fought with Mr Jeffries.

The court heard Mr Littlewood had been a resident in a hostel for vulnerable teenagers in St Paul's Road, Hartlepool at the time of Mr Jeffries' death.

One resident of the hostel told the court Mr Littlewood had said "I killed him" while they were at a nightclub.

He added the next day Mr Littlewood said: "Sorry, I was just being daft as usual."

But Mr Lane argued that the teenager had not told police that in his original statement and said his client had not said those words.

Another resident said after Mr Jeffries' body had been found windows in the kitchen of the hostel steamed up and Mr Littlewood wrote in the condensation: "Ha Ha, he's dead."

And a visitor to the hostel told the jury: "He said 'I'm glad he's dead because I done it'." The girl said she thought he was joking.

The prosecution claim Mr Jeffries died after being beaten by Mr Littlewood in a dispute over money.

The case continues.