THE mother of the girlfriend of alleged murderer Aaron Roche has told a court how he arrived at her house in "horrific shock" after a fight with victim Dele Little.

Maria Shinn said she had been at her home, a few minutes walk from the West Totton Centre where 15-year-old Dele had fought with Roche.

Giving evidence at Winchester Crown Court, she told jurors Roche was the first to arrive back at her home, where he was living with her daughter Kayleigh, and when she opened the door he was barely recognisable.

The court had heard how Roche had gone to the centre after hearing Kayleigh had been attacked by a boy who later turned out to be Dele Little.

Mrs Shinn said: "It was someone I knew but I didn't recognise. He was bleeding heavily and he had no shirt on. His face was just swollen. It didn't look like Aaron but I knew it was Aaron."

She added: "He had his jumper in his right hand and no shirt on. There was blood just all down his front."

Mrs Shinn, who had been a nurse for 20 years, described Roche's appearance as "shock, horrific shock".

She told jurors: "I grabbed hold of him. He was just shaking. His breathing was very fast. He just looked at me. I asked him what on earth had happened. I thought he was going to fall down. He looked like he was going to pass out on me."

Mrs Shinn said she took Roche into the kitchen while her partner went to the West Totton Centre to look for her daughter, her son Danny and his girlfriend.

She said: "I tried to clean his face up as best I could. I did an ice pack to get the swelling down. My concerns did turn to Kayleigh. I was telling police on the phone that I had Aaron but my daughter and son were still missing."

Asked about Roche's injuries, she said: "Everything was just distorted. He looked like the Elephant Man. There wasn't a nose, it was just swelling. It was just flat, sprawled across his face."

She continued: "I said "what happened?" He said there was a gang of people on him, kicking and punching. They just wouldn't stop."

Mrs Shinn told the court she then heard her daughter in the hall, sat on the stairs crying.

The court heard how Danny came into the kitchen, where Roche was sat on the floor, and crouched at his knees.

Mrs Shinn said she heard her son say to Roche: "I think you stabbed somebody. The boy has been stabbed."

Mrs Shinn said: "I was already in shock and I think I doubled that shock. It was a blow. I saw and I felt how Aaron reacted. His body just turned to jelly. I thought he was going to go. I just looked at him and said "did you?" and he just looked at me and said "I don't know"."

During cross examination by prosecutor Christopher Parker QC, Mrs Shinn agreed that Roche might actually have said "I think so".

Mrs Shinn told jurors how she asked Roche if he had stabbed somebody, where was the knife.

She said: "He described the way he had come home and if it was anywhere it would be there."

Describing her 18-year-old daughter's relationship with Roche, she told the court they were still together and said: "They are very close. It is a very loving relationship."

The court was told that Kayleigh had not coped well with what had happened.

Mrs Shinn said: "She had a stress-induced thyroid problem. She lost a lot of weight. She was being sick nearly every day. She's just totally devastated."

She said Kayleigh had been forced to give up her studies at Totton College.

Roche, 21, formally of Ringwood Road, Lyndhurst, denies murder.

Proceeding.