Three Jailed For Helping Rhys Jones Killer

Rhys, 11, died after being shot in the neck in August 2007 as he walked home from football practice across a Liverpool pub car park.

Three young men were jailed on Thursday for their role in trying to help the killer of schoolboy Rhys Jones to escape justice.

Rhys, 11, died after being shot in the neck in August 2007 as he walked home from football practice across a Liverpool pub car park.

His killer, Sean Mercer, now 18, who had been aiming at members of a rival gang, was jailed for life for murder in December.

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 cycled to the home of 16-year-old Boy M, who cannot be identified because of his age, where a cover-up was hatched with the help of six other Crocky Crew members.

But detectives bugged the homes of Boy M and another of the group James Yates and gathered damning audio evidence.

Melvin Coy, 25, and Gary Kays, 26, Yates, 20, Nathan Quinn, 18, Dean Kelly, 17, and Boy M, were found guilty of helping Mercer try to avoid justice by getting rid of his clothing, his bicycle and the murder weapon.

All had denied the charges.

Coy and Kays were jailed for seven years in December, while the other gang members were sentenced on Thursday.

Yates was jailed for seven years, Kelly for four years and Quinn for two years in addition to a five year sentence he is already serving for a previous gun-related offence, the Press Association reported.

Boy M was given a two year supervision order with a four month 7pm to 7am curfew.

The shooting of Rhys Jones, a keen Everton supporter, behind the Fir Tree Pub in Croxteth last August shocked the local community and the nation, and increased concern about gang crime.

The trial heard that Mercer -- armed with a Smith & Wesson .455 revolver which dated back to 1915 and was used in World War One -- had not intended to shoot the boy and was firing at three members of the Strand Gang.

CCTV footage showed Rhys crossing the pub car park as he returned from football practice and being distracted by the sound of a bullet striking a container nearby.

He was then seen turning to look in the direction of the container and being struck by the second bullet, falling to the ground where he later died in the arms of his mother, Melanie.