Mason Radcliffe died after being stabbed by his own brothers in the ITV soap’s shocking new storyline

Coronation Street has aired a devastating insight into what can happen when teenagers carry knives, as Mason Radcliffe died after being stabbed by his own brothers.

The ITV soap revealed at the end of last year that it’d be tackling the issue of knife crime with the former Weatherfield high bully, played by Luca Toolan, as he tried to escape his own family and past by agreeing to take on a job with Stu Carpenter in Germany.

Viewers first saw things escalate when DS Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) showed Mason photographs taken at the crime scene of her late partner Becky’s death and revealed that his brothers were behind the murder.

Determined to take his brothers down, Mason searched their flat and found a WWII helmet, matched to the one listed in Becky’s case file, and handed it into the police station. After being questioned by DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts), the brothers went looking for Mason intent on brutal revenge.

Knowing he needed to leave after crossing the pair, Mason set his sights on Germany and was seen kindly thanking Tim (Joe Duttine) and Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor) for providing him with the home life he had never had before as they took him under their wing in recent weeks.

But as Matty and Logan caught up with Mason, things took a terrifying turn. When the altercation broke out in the children’s play area at the precinct, Dylan Wilson (Liam McCheyne) managed to make his escape. Abi Webster (Sally Carmen) was then the first at the scene to find Mason bleeding and did her best to stop the flow of blood before the ambulance showed up, which was delayed due to a hoax call.

Betsy Swain arrived, and she and Abi assured a scared Mason that he would be alright – but attempts to save his life ultimately failed. As news spread to the community, Corrie viewers saw that the knife had been brought into the horrifying scene by Dylan, who was devastated by what had then unfolded.

Speaking out about his exit and his thoughts about the storyline, Luca said: “When I first heard there was a mixture of emotions because I was sad that Mason was going to die and that means I would be leaving, but equally I was really excited and honoured to be part of this storyline because it’s an incredibly important issue that needs to be tackled. I feel so privileged to have had this opportunity to start my professional career at Coronation Street and what a great time I’ve had.”

On the storyline’s importance, the actor shared: “Like I’ve said before, I really did underestimate the power of Coronation Street and didn’t quite grasp how much it can affect the viewers, especially if they’ve been through something similar themselves. I really began noticing the power when I was a part of the bullying storyline and could see the way that it was received – that’s why it’s so important for soaps in general to cover these kinds of topics because people can relate to them and if this storyline even makes one person drop a knife then it’s done a great job.”

But he admitted it wasn’t all easy to film. “It was exhausting to film but amazing,” Luca shared. “I was so focused and a storyline like this is what you crave as an actor. I love the long days and working my butt off and even filming outside in the cold. Every single day I would wake up and be absolutely buzzing to go to work. The full crew were so supportive and created an environment that you could put yourself in that emotional headspace and get on with it. It was an amazing experience filming those scenes.”