Mason Radcliffe was a local ne'er do well and school bully who almost drove his classmate Liam Connor to suicide in 2024.
After serving a prison sentence for possession of a knife, Mason turned over a new leaf by holding down a steady job at Speed Daal and reciprocating the kindness of neighbours Stu Carpenter and Tim Metcalfe, but his brothers Logan and Matty attempted to draw him back into a life of crime. In 2025, when he gave the police evidence of their involvement in the death of Becky Swain, he was stabbed to death by Logan in retaliation.
Biography
Mason was the younger brother of Logan and Matty Radcliffe. Like his siblings, he was involved in petty crime from a young age, and at school he bullied and intimidated his male classmates into doing his bidding.
In 2023, Mason stole Tyrone Dobbs's car and was involved in a hit-and-run while behind the wheel, clipping Eliza Woodrow with the wing mirror and bruising her arm. He managed to abandon the vehicle and coerce his Weatherfield High classmates Liam Connor and Dylan Wilson into telling the police that they were with him at the time of the incident. The lads were "rewarded" with Mason's friendship, but when he made the pair try vapes and an asthmatic Liam was hospitalised, Liam became frightened of Mason's threats and began feigning sickness to get off school. Dylan also saw Mason's true nature when Mason spoiled the newspapers he was delivering, getting him the sack from The Kabin, but his desire to be part of a popular crowd meant that he continued to look up to Mason.
In November of that year, Mason made Dylan sell vapes for him, the latter was caught selling one to 12-year-old Hope Dobbs, and his father Sean Tully, soaked Dylan's supply in the sink. Mason demanded Dylan's new trainers as compensation for the loss and set Liam up as the thief when Sean complained to deputy head Mrs Crawshaw that they had been stolen. Mason stepped up his bullying of Liam, covering him with litter and filming his tears, destroying his school projects and, after Liam tried to stand up to him, pulling a knife on the lad. Scared for his life, Liam told his stepbrother Jake Windass about the incident and Jake tipped off the police. Mason was subjected to a stop and search, but he evaded arrest having passed the weapon on to Dylan.
After losing the vapes, Mason made Dylan steal a load from Simon Barlow and sell them as a sideline while working at Prima Doner. He pressured Liam to do so as well, humiliating the boy when he refused. Mason also had an altercation with Amy Barlow when he and his cronies taunted her as she was on her way to an anti-spiking demo, causing Amy to hit Mason with her placard.
In January 2024, Mason got Liam suspended from school by provoking him into punching Dylan. The police took a restorative justice approach and made Liam apologise to a contemptuous Dylan, who told him that he and his mates would be waiting for him when he returned. Although Liam had repeatedly denied that he was being bullied by Mason, the truth was was revealed to his mother Maria Connor when she accessed his private social media account and found a string of abusive messages. Dylan alerted Mason after overhearing Sean arguing about them with Liam's stepfather Gary Windass, and the messages were deleted before Maria could bring them to Mrs Crawshaw's attention. When Sean found bullying and homophobic texts on Dylan's phone, Dylan was shamed into coming clean to Mrs Crawshaw, but Mason scared him into accepting the blame and keeping quiet about his involvement.
Mason and Dylan's friendship has outlived its usefulness. In March, when Liam plucked up the courage to report the knife incident to the police, Mason set up Dylan so that the weapon was found on his person. Dylan plead guilty to possession, horrified when he learned that his actions had resulted in Liam considering suicide. However, Mason's fingerprints were also on the knife, and he was charged with threatening with a bladed article in a public space. At the court hearing, Mason tried to threaten Dylan into not testifying by promising retribution from him and his brothers. After Liam persuaded him not to abscond, Dylan gave evidence which helped get Mason convicted.
By July, Mason had been released from the detention centre. He was spotted living rough in the Coronation Street area by Stu Carpenter, who remembering his own homeless experiences took pity on the lad and gave him food. Mason was embarrassed by Stu's charity, but accepted his offer of a job as a kitchen hand at Speed Daal, with Yasmeen Metcalfe standing him despite the appointment causing a huge backlash from the neighbours.
While on the streets, Mason was befriended by Betsy Swain. The teen was initially attracted to him due to his 'bad boy' reputation, but she dumped Mason when he refused to skive off from his new job to hang out. To get back at him, she took up with a smitten Dylan and tried to get Mason fired by stealing a customer's purse and planting it on him. As he was out on licence, this resulted in Mason going back to prison, which led a guilty Dylan to confess Mason's innocence to Stu. Released once again, Mason was welcomed back at Speed Daal and offered a truce to a sceptical Liam, Dylan and Betsy, genuine in his desire to turn his life around.
In and out of the family home, Mason was frequently beaten by Logan and Matty. In September, after he slept overnight in Speed Daal to escape his brothers, Yasmeen gave in to Stu's pleas and gave Mason a bed at 6 Coronation Street. The following month, he started a college course and renewed his friendship with Betsy. To get Logan and Matty off his back, he agreed to help them commit a burglary, but Stu found him with a crowbar and prevented him from carrying it out. Logan responded by putting a brick through No.6's window in revenge and a terrified Yasmeen ordered that Mason found somewhere else to live.
Mason left the house and the restaurant. He tried dossing in No.4's summerhouse, but was eventually caught by Sally and Tim Metcalfe. Tim allowed the lad to stay the night at No.4 without Sally's knowledge, but when Logan and Matty saw him leaving the house the next day, the house became a target with Tim's car and Elsie Seddon's engagement ring being stolen. Mason gave the police an anonymous tip-off which resulted in the restitution of the items but grassing up his brothers put him in danger after they were freed due to a lack of evidence. After Mason and Tim were threatened, Betsy gave Logan and Matty access to Underworld in exchange for leaving Mason alone. The brothers accepted the deal, but the robbery went awry when Carla Connor interrupted the proceedings and was attacked.
Mason continued to make headway with the neighbours; Sally eventually warmed to him, and invited him to No.4 for Christmas, while Betsy brought him along to lunch at the Viaduct Bistro with her mum Lisa Swain and Carla Connor. Lisa, a police detective, was against her daughter seeing someone from a criminal family but forced herself to tolerate him. With Tim's help, Mason cooked a romantic meal for Betsy as a date. However, it wasn't to last as when Mason became aware that Logan and Matty had caused the death of Lisa's partner Becky, he decided to help the police convict them by passing on evidence linking them to the crime found in their flat. At the same time, he planned a move to Germany to work for Stu, aware that grassing his brothers up would make him a marked man. When he told Betsy what his brothers had done, she finished with him on the spot, accusing him of befriending her under false pretences.
Before he could leave, Logan and Matty were released due to supposed lack of evidence and assaulted Mason, stabbing him with a knife that Dylan was carrying for protection which fell into their hands. Abi Webster found Mason bleeding and badly wounded in Weatherfield Precinct and called an ambulance, but Mason died in hospital.
Personality
 |
Background information
|
First and last lines
"Hey mate, Freddy Kreuger wants 'is face back you little freak!" (First line, to Ryan Connor)
---
"I want my mum." (Final line)
Appendices
List of addresses
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Flat 38, Bevan Tower, Paul Robeson Estate | until 30th September 2024 |
| 6 Coronation Street | 30th September to 11th October 2024 |
| No fixed abode | 11th October to 20th December 2024 |
| 4 Coronation Street | 20th December 2024 to 6th January 2025 |
Employment history
| Role | Institution | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen hand | Speed Daal | 7th to 30th August 2024 |
| Kitchen hand | Speed Daal | 27th September to 14th October 2024 |