Clues that finally snared Rhys Jones’ killers after painstaking fight for justice

Rhys Jones' mum Mel was spending an evening at home when she had the knock on the door that no parent should ever hear.

Moments later, she was cradling her 11-year-old son, moments after he was shot in the street as he walked home from football practise.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics and doctors, an hour later Rhys, who was the "star" of his under-12s team, lay dead in hospital.

Recalling the aftermath of the shooting, mum Mel told the Mirror: “I just ran over to him and put my arms under his head. I was talking to him and talking to him, and saying ‘stay with me, stay with me Rhys’.

“But there was no response from him at all. He was just lying there in a huge pool of blood.

“He was such a very happy, outgoing boy.”

His killer was aiming for a rival gang member and young Rhys was the victim caught in the cross fire.

Sean Mercer had come tearing up the street on his bike and fired three shots from a borrowed Smith and Wesson.

Mercer's intended victim was not hit - but Rhys was shot in the neck and collapsed in a pool of blood.

Despite witnesses and many in the community knowing who was responsible for firing the shot that killed little Rhys it would be eight months before police had enough evidence to make any arrests.

A wall of silence and secrecy fell over Rhys' neighbourhood in Merseyside, so tight was the grip of fear the Croxteth Crew had.

Heartbreaking, Rhys' parents, Mel and Steve, had made the move to Croxteth in a bid to get their sons, including older brother Owen, away from gang violence in other parts of Liverpool.

Rhys is unlikely to have been aware of the gang of older boys as he made his way home just before 7:30pm on August 22, 2007.

Mercer was a member of the Croxteth Crew and at just 16 was likely trying to impress the older members of the gang.

With the gun hidden under his clothes, he took aim in the car park of the Fir Tree pub at a rival gang member, Wayne Brady.

He missed and instead claimed the life of innocent Rhys.

Mercer even fired a third shot after the schoolboy crumpled to the floor after he was hit.

One witness, Sharon Lynch, told the Telegraph: "I ran to help Rhys. His eyes were open, staring out.

"He wasn't blinking. He didn't make any sound."

When Mel arrived, she held her beloved youngest boy as paramedics desperately tried to save is life.

Touchingly, staff at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, where Rhys was then taken, covered his tiny body with an Everton duvet cover when his parents went to the mortuary.

Many Everton players attended the young fan's funeral and his coffin was dropped in his team's colours.

But it would be months before Rhys' devastated family would get the justice for his cold-hearted murder that they so needed.

At least 12 people had witnessed Mercer open fire in the car park but none would make a statement.

Police threw everything they had into the hunt to find and arrest Rhys' killer, and heard whispers of Mercer's name on the streets - but no one would point the finger and place him at the scene.

Just three days after Rhys died, officers arrested Mercer but had to be released due to a lack of evidence against him.

The teenager had planned how he would get away with killing a schoolboy just about to start secondary school with calculated proficiency.

Even before Rhys' mother had arrived at the pub car park to hold her dying son in his last few moments on earth, Mercer had plotted how he would dispose of the gun.

First, he called on a fellow gangster and just 20 minutes after the shots were fired he had roped in a 17-year-old, who he knew was terrified of him and would never be under suspicion as he had no criminal record.

Mercer gave him the gun and told him to hide it.

An hour after he shot Rhys, Mercer was on his way to a lock up garage in another part of Merseyside where he burned his clothes and doused himself in petrol to remove all traces of gun residue.

By 9pm, he was heading home.

But both Rhys' family and the police refused to give up. They knew who as responsible for killing the 11-year-old - and were determined to prove it.

Mel and Steve gave numerous appeals at Everton matches, urging Rhys' killer to hand himself into police.

Officers used bugging devices to gather information about the gang responsibile.

After months of painstaking covert surveillance and relentless work on the ground they realised the 17-year-old had been set up by Mercer.

Merseyside Police spent months pleading with him to help them in return for a new identity and a new home under a witness protection scheme.

And, after a search of his home, they finally found what they were looking for - the gun used to kill Rhys.

In a series of dawn raids, officers arrested the gang who were responsible for Rhys' death and for covering up the murder.

Mel and Steve attended the murder trial every day - although Rhys' mum left the court room once when CCTV of the moment her son was shot was shown.

Mercer was jailed for 22 years - and is now more than half-way through his sentence.

Rhys' dad, Steve, told a TV documentary: "At the time we were happy with that tariff but we live that life sentence now.

“There is no end of sentence for us, there just isn’t. We are the ones that suffer, our family is still suffering and will do for the rest of our lives, from the pain of losing Rhys.”

Other members of the gang were also jailed for their part in the killing.

James Yates was locked up for seven years for assisting an offender but this has since been increased to 12 years after the Court of Appeal deemed it too lenient.

Gary Kays and Mevin Coy were convicted of assisting an offender and jailed for seven years.

Dean Kelly was jailed for four years and Nathan Quinn was told to spend two years behind bars.

But for Rhys' parents, the nightmare will never end.

• Little Boy Blue is being repeated on ITV at 9pm on Monday