On the evening of 22 August 2007, eleven-year-old Rhys Milford Jones was fatally shot as he walked home from football practice across the car park of the Fir Tree public house on the Croxteth Park estate in Liverpool, England. He was struck by a bullet fired by a youth on a bicycle and, despite emergency treatment, was pronounced dead a short time later at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. He was five weeks short of his twelfth birthday and a keen footballer and Everton supporter.
Rhys was not the intended target. The shooting grew out of a long-running feud between two local gangs, the Croxteth Crew and the Norris Green Strand Crew. The gunman had gone looking for rival youths who had entered what his group regarded as its territory, and fired across the car park from a distance of about seventy yards while bystanders and moving cars were nearby. One of the shots hit Rhys as he passed.
The killing prompted a large public response and an extensive police investigation, including a televised reconstruction and repeated appeals for information. Rhys's parents, Stephen and Melanie Jones, made public appeals and later supported anti-gun campaigns; a funeral service was held at Liverpool Cathedral in September 2007.
Sean Mercer, who was sixteen at the time of the shooting and a member of the Croxteth Crew, was charged with murder. After a trial lasting several weeks at Liverpool Crown Court, he was convicted on 16 December 2008. The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Irwin, imposed the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment and set a minimum term of twenty-two years, reduced to twenty-one years and 122 days to reflect time already spent in custody. The judge described the offence as arising from gang conflict and noted the dignity shown by Rhys's family throughout the proceedings.
Several other men were convicted of assisting an offender for helping Mercer evade detection by destroying evidence and pressuring witnesses, among them James Yates, Melvin Coy, Gary Kays and Nathan Quinn; a further defendant, Dean Kelly, was convicted of related offences. James Yates's sentence was later increased on appeal. A number of relatives of those involved were subsequently convicted of perverting the course of justice.
In the years that followed, Rhys was widely remembered in Liverpool. A community centre named in his memory opened on the Croxteth Park estate in 2013, and his family continued to campaign against gun and gang violence. The case remains one of the most prominent examples of the harm caused by gang-related firearms offences in the city.
Fir Tree pub car park, Croxteth Park estate, Croxteth, Liverpool
Case status
solved
Case timeline
2006-08-23
Liam Smith, a young man from Norris Green, is shot dead outside Altcourse prison in a related gang killing later cited by the court as background to the feud.
2007-08-22
Rhys Jones, 11, is fatally shot in the car park of the Fir Tree public house on the Croxteth Park estate while walking home from football practice, and is pronounced dead at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
2007-09-06
A funeral service for Rhys Jones is held at Liverpool Cathedral.
2007-09-26
A televised reconstruction of the shooting is broadcast to appeal for witnesses.
2008-04
Sean Mercer and others are arrested and charged in connection with the shooting.
2008-12-16
Sean Mercer is convicted of murder at Liverpool Crown Court and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years (21 years 122 days after deduction of time on remand).
2009-01
Co-defendants are sentenced, including James Yates (7 years), Dean Kelly (4 years) and Nathan Quinn (2 years).
2009-10-28
James Yates's sentence is increased to 12 years by the Court of Appeal after being referred as too lenient.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Eleanor Neale / 56 min
THE RHYS JONES CASE
People
Dean Kelly
CONVICTED
Juvenile at the time (referred to in court as Boy 'K'); convicted of four related offences.
Nathan Quinn
CONVICTED
Convicted of assisting an offender; sentenced to two years.
Sean Mercer
CONVICTED
Convicted of murder on 16 December 2008 at Liverpool Crown Court; sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years, set at 21 years 122 days after deduction of 243 days spent on remand.
Rhys Milford Jones
VICTIM
Eleven-year-old boy fatally shot while walking home from football practice on 22 August 2007.
Melvin Coy
CONVICTED
Convicted of assisting an offender; sentenced to seven years.
James Yates
CONVICTED
Convicted of assisting an offender; sentence later increased to 12 years on appeal.
Gary Kays
CONVICTED
Convicted of assisting an offender; sentenced to seven years.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Eleven-year-old Rhys Jones was fatally shot during a gang shooting in Croxteth, Liverpool, in August 2007; Sean Mercer was convicted of his murder in 2008.
Where did the murder happen?
Fir Tree pub car park, Croxteth Park estate, Croxteth, Liverpool.
Who was convicted?
Dean Kelly (Juvenile at the time (referred to in court as Boy 'K'); convicted of four related offences.), Nathan Quinn (Convicted of assisting an offender; sentenced to two years.), Sean Mercer (Convicted of murder on 16 December 2008 at Liverpool Crown Court; sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years, set at 21 years 122 days after deduction of 243 days spent on remand.), Melvin Coy (Convicted of assisting an offender; sentenced to seven years.), James Yates (Convicted of assisting an offender; sentence later increased to 12 years on appeal.), and Gary Kays (Convicted of assisting an offender; sentenced to seven years.).
