Choking back tears, she said she was told her son was alright and he'd be home that night before the call was terminated.
"I was scared for my boy, I couldn't understand why he'd been kidnapped and why someone would be using his phone to call me."
She later saw her son but he was despondent, upset and bruised, she said.
Questioned by McDonnell's lawyer, Bruce Hesketh, she agreed she considered the businessman a bad influence on her son because of his drug use.
Another witness today told of finding someone crouching behind shelving in his workshop.
"He said someone was after him, wanted to kill him and he needed to be taken to the police station, he pulled out a couple of grand in notes."
He pointed the man to a nearby community police base but he stumbled off in the wrong direction.
Another witness told how he'd been flagged down and offered $50 to take the man to the police station.
The trial, at the end of its second week, is continuing.