At least 22 years for Rhys's killer

12 April 2012

Teenage gunman Sean Mercer has been jailed for at least 22 years for the murder of innocent schoolboy Rhys Jones.

Mercer, 18, blasted three bullets across a busy pub car park in Croxteth, Liverpool, targeting rivals who had strayed onto his turf.

But Rhys, 11, was shot in the neck when he wandered into the line of fire as he made his way home from football training. He died in his mother's arms a short time later.

Mercer, 18, was convicted of murder on Monday but the verdict could not be reported until a day later.

Following the convictions of his fellow gang members for helping him, Rhys's father said: "Finally justice has been done for Rhys."

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

What the jurors did not know was that just two months before he shot Rhys, Mercer was involved in a chilling rehearsal of the killing. Waving a gun, he rode a motorcycle past members of the public on rival gang territory. The incident was not reported to police at the time. The jurors were also unaware that just weeks after shooting Rhys, Mercer was given a three-year Asbo for terrorising security guards at a sports centre.

Six other gang members were found guilty of helping Mercer evade police for months after the killing of Rhys, which shocked the nation.

They were Gary Kays, 26, and Melvin Coy, 25, both West Derby, Liverpool, James Yates, 20, and Nathan Quinn, 18, of Croxteth, Dean Kelly, 17, also of Croxteth, who was referred to as Boy K during the trial, and Boy M, 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Quinn is already serving five years for gun-related offences.

Kays and Coy were both jailed for seven years. The rest of the gang will be sentenced at a later date. Sentencing Mercer, the judge Mr Justice Irwin said: "Rhys died at your hands, his death was a tragedy for him, a tragedy for his family and a waste of a young life."

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