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Rhys Killer Jailed For 22 Years

The parents of Rhys Jones say justice has finally been done after their son's killer Sean Mercer was jailed for a minimum of 22 years.

Sean Mercer was a member of the Croxteth Crew gang
Police said Mercer, who was 16 when he killed the 11-year-old in August 2007, showed "no remorse whatsoever" over the Liverpool schoolboy's death.

He opened fire in front of a busy pub - and the second of three bullets hit Rhys in the neck as he walked home from football practice.
After seeing Mercer convicted, Rhys' father Stephen Jones said outside court: "Finally justice has been done for Rhys."

Victim Rhys with his family
He thanked Merseyside Police for their perseverance and said he and his wife had found strength in the messages of support sent by people from around the world. "As a family today it is not the final chapter but we can begin the challenge of rebuilding our lives," he said.

Six of Mercer's fellow gang members were convicted of assisting him, after they helped the thug evade detectives for months.

They were James Yates, 20, Nathan Quinn, 18 and Dean Kelly, 17, all of Croxteth, Gary Kays, 26, and Melvin Coy, 25, both of West Derby, Liverpool, and Boy M, 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Kays and Coy were both jailed for seven years, while the rest of the gang - described by the judge as "selfish and shallow criminals" - 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."

Rhys' mother Melanie, who cradled her son as he lay dying outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth, broke down in tears as the verdict was announced.
"Mrs Jones sat with her eyes closed, looking at the floor,"

Sky's Michelle May reported.

"She did look across at Sean Mercer, but upon hearing the verdict, he looked down at the floor and did not look at her.
"It has been a strange set-up: on one side of the court was a public gallery with the family and friends of Rhys Jones.
"On the other side was a second public gallery, which had the families and friends of the defendants."

At times the evidence was unbearable - Mrs Jones left the court in tears just before the CCTV footage of her son falling to the ground was played to the silent courtroom.

She and her husband have also witnessed Sean Mercer and the other defendants laughing and joking in the dock.
The trial has thrown light on a violent gang dispute that is confined to the L11 postcode area. Merseyside Police have taken tough action since the shooting - gun crime is their number one priority. Area Commander for Liverpool North, Steve Watson, told Sky News: "We would never suggest we have eliminated the gun problem, we clearly haven't done that.
"God forbid that we have anything again that is the tragedy that is Rhys Jones, but what I will say is we are here for the long term, we and the community have a problem with these people and we are here to sort it out."