Teen Gang Member Sentenced To Life For Rhys Murder

A teenager found guilty of the murder of 11-year-old schoolboy Rhys Jones has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Gang member Sean Mercer, 18, of Croxteth was convicted of the murder following a nine-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

The court heard he fired three bullets across a pub car park in Croxteth after targeting rivals who has strayed on to his "turf".

Innocent Rhys was shot in the neck on his way home from football practice. He had been caught in the line of fire, and died cradled in his mother Melanie’s arms.

The jury of seven women and five men, after almost four days of deliberations, convicted Mercer of murder unanimously.

The verdict was reached yesterday, but could not be reported until now.

James Yates, 20, of Dodman Road and Nathan Quinn, 18, of Wickett Close, both from Croxteth; Gary Kays, 25, of Mallard Close and Melvin Coy, 24, of Abbeyfield Drive, both West Derby, Liverpool, along with Boy M, 16, and Boy K, 17, who cannot be named, were convicted unanimously of assisting an offender, after they helped Mercer evade police for months.

Defendant K - who can now be named as Dean Kelly, 17, of Sword Walk, Croxteth, after judge Mr Justice Irwin lifted reporting restrictions - was also convicted of four related charges.

An order banning reporting the fact Quinn is already serving five years for gun-related offences was also lifted.

Gary Kays, Melvin Coy and Dean Kelly were each sentenced to seven years, while Yates, Quinn and Boy M are due to be sentenced in January.

During the trial, the court heard that Mercer was a leading member of the Croxteth Crew gang, which terrorised the local community and was involved in a long-running and bloody feud with the Strand Gang, based on the neighbouring Norris Green estate.

The jury was also told he had an "intense hatred" of Strand Gang member Wayne Brady.

Mercer went to shoot Brady, 19, when he was told by Coy and Kays that he had been seen cycling near the Fir Tree Pub, which is on Croxteth Crew territory.

Dressed in a black hoodie and tracksuit, Mercer got hold of Yates's Smith & Wesson .455 revolver and cycled to the pub where he took up position on a grass verge alongside the car park and fired three shots.

Rhys Jones, distracted by the sound of the first bullet striking a shipping container in the car park, turned toward the gunman and was struck in the neck by the second bullet.

The third bullet struck a disused well.

The judge called Mercer a coward, telling him: "You were caught up in gang activity at a young age and it is clear you gloried in it."

He also described the gang members as "selfish and shallow criminals", adding that "Rhys Jones died because of your brutality and because you are a coward".

After the verdicts were read out, Rhys' father Stephen Jones, 45, said: "Finally justice has been done for Rhys."

(JM)