Teenager found guilty of Rhys Jones murder

A teenager was jailed for life yesterday after being convicted of murdering schoolboy Rhys Jones, the 11-year-old boy shot dead as he walked home from football practice in a crime that stunned the country.

Rhys was hit in the neck in August 2007 by one of three bullets fired across a Liverpool pub car park by Sean Mercer, now 18, who had been aiming at members of a rival gang.

"Finally justice has been done for Rhys," his father Stephen Jones said after the verdict.

Prosecutor Neil Flewitt said the shooting was the result of a violent rivalry between Croxteth's Crocky Crew, which counted Mercer among its members, and nearby Norris Green's Strand Gang.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that immediately after the shooting, Mercer set about getting rid of his clothing, his bicycle and the murder weapon, with the help of six other Crocky Crew members.

Mercer was told he must spend a minimum of 22 years behind bars, the Press Association reported.

James Yates, 20, Melvin Coy, 25, Gary Kays, 26, Nathan Quinn, 18, Dean Kelly, 17, and a 16-year-old boy were found guilty of helping Mercer try to avoid justice. All had denied the charges.

Kays and Coy were jailed for seven years, while the others will be sentenced at a later date.