Teenager guilty of murder of Rhys Jones

ON the 16 December 2008, 18 year old Sean Mercer has been convicted of Rhys Jones's murder at Liverpool's Crown Court.  The outcome of what has been a highly publicised case was that Sean Mercer has been sentenced to life in prison and will serve a minimum of 22 years. 

In a joint statement on behalf of CPS and Merseyside Police, Detective Superintendent Dave Kelly, who was the Senior Investigating Officer in the case, said:- “Ultimately nothing can bring Rhys back, but we hope that the family can find some peace in the fact that justice has been served.

Merseyside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have worked tirelessly over the past 16 months to bring this case to court, and it is fair to say that since the killing of Rhys Sean Mercer has shown no remorse.

We only hope that the verdict today will bring home to him the enormity of what he has done and the pain and heartache he has caused.”

Helen Morris, CPS Prosecutor, said:- “Rhys Jones was an innocent victim of a long running feud between two local gangs.  His death shocked and saddened the whole nation.

Sean Mercer, who is now 18, was just 16 when he fired the gun.  Some of the defendants who helped dispose of the gun, his clothing and his bicycle, were just 15 and 16.”

Also six of his associates have also been found guilty of assisting Sean Mercer. 

James Yates – assisting an offender and possession of a prohibited firearm

Boy M – assisting an offender

Nathan Quinn – assisting an offender

Dean Kelly – assisting an offender, possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition

Gary Kays – assisting an offender

Melvin Coy – assisting an offender

Gary Kays and Melvin Coy have both been sentenced to seven years.  They will serve half in prison and half on licence.  The others will be sentenced in January 2009.

City Council leader Warren Bradley said:- “The murder of Rhys Jones shocked and appalled the whole of the city, the nation and the wider world.

It is a relief for everyone to know that those involved in this heinous crime have been found guilty and will be out of circulation for a very long time.

I would like to pay tribute to the hard work of Merseyside Police in bringing the guilty people to justice, and to the family of Rhys Jones who have shown exceptional dignity and courage since their son was murdered.

The good, hard working and law abiding people of Croxteth and Norris Green were sickened by the shooting of Rhys, and the way in which his death reflected on their community.

We have to remember that as shocking as it was, gun violence is extremely rare and does not represent everyday life for people in Liverpool.

This dreadful incident will live long in our memory, but it is important that we take something positive from the tragedy and do all we can to make sure that our young people do not get tempted into gang activity.”

Councillor Marilyn Fielding, Liverpool City Council’s executive member for safer, stronger communities, said:- “The local community can now finally draw a line under the events of August 2007 and begin to move on. 

However, they will never forget the appalling manner in which Rhys Jones was killed.

We are working hard with our partners in the police, housing associations and with voluntary and community groups to make sure that all local youngsters can get involved in positive activities. 

Violent crime has fallen by 36 percent in Liverpool over the last three years, and overall we are one of the safest big cities in the country.

We are committed to doing all we can to reduce this further so that we never again lose a young life in such tragic circumstances.”

Stuart Smith, Liverpool City Council’s executive director for children, families and adults, said:- “There is a tremendous amount of work going on in the community to make sure that young people do not get tempted by guns and gangs. 

The vast majority of young people in the area are a credit to their families and make a positive contribution to the local community.

Our task is to get to those who are on the fringe of this type of activity and get them back on the right road.”

Det Supt Dave Kelly added:- “We would urge anyone who knows anything about the whereabouts of use of guns to make contact with the police or phone Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555111.”

Southport's Night Time - Are Businesses Held To Ransom

GANGS of youths aged from as young as 12 up to 19 years of age are running amok in Southport Town Centre, from the hours of 4pm to around 11pm.  Police and businesses are increasingly powerless to intervene and the situation is now damaging the town.  We do not normally run reports like this, so readers can gather just how bad this problem is becoming.  The fear is that if something is not done soon, the effects of the recession and also increases in bills, combined with this problem will see less and less people using Southport as a venue for a night out.  Many of the older people might think it a good thing that the night life is failing, but what they may not realize is that it is the night life that keeps Southport alive over the long gaps in the tourist season.  So many businesses depend on the nightlife that, if it fails, many will go under.  Do not get us wrong, this youth problem is only a small part of a bigger image problem the town is now facing after years of bad press, due to headline grabbing incidents.  Lack of support from groups, like Sefton's PR department, who refuse to talk to some sections of the media also affects the image of the town.  Up to now the image problem has been reduced, thanks to efforts by many businesses and Merseyside Police, but this could be in jeopardy once again.  It is only a small element of youths who are causing the problem, but it is one that is having a huge impact on small businesses and on the town's reputation.  A business in the centre of town, at around 7:30pm, had a mother, her female friend and two young children, one age 3 years of age, the other aged 1, on the premises.  They waited to be served as a gang of kids ran in and out of the business, shouting and swearing.  At one point nearly knocking down the children.  All the gang had been drinking from around 6pm and were showing it.  Both of the customers said to me, when the youths were outside the door for a few minutes, "We are local, but what will people from outside the area think? Do the parents not know what is going on?" The kids at this point were not too bad, just noisy and over -excited as they became increasingly intoxicated.  The business owner said:- "What can I do?  I cannot get them to leave and I cannot get the police in as they will only come back and be a worse problem later on… I am losing trade as you can see!"  By now, I had noticed that the gang of kids had got the booze, allegedly from a local 'big name' retailer.  An older lad was with them and seemed to be keeping a type of check over them.  As the night went on, a Police unit visited the business and asked if the owner was ok.  That was in front of them, so the owner had to say, "Yes".  As he later said:- "I could not say no! I knew the Police were trying to help, but both they and myself could do nothing."  By this point a gang of girls had joined them and had started messing around and stirring up trouble between the lads.  They did it deliberately, as if it was a game.  The group by now had put off 15 customers from entering the shop, by both standing on the doorways and also inside.  Some were mock fighting at times, again adding to the bad image, which I am told, is happening all over the country.  Another business a few doors down said:- "With the run up to Christmas and late night shopping starting soon, if these youths keep doing what they are doing, it's no wonder why people are starting to keep out of the centre of town.  What can we do? If we report it, the council warns us and has a go at us! If we talk to the media and local councillors, the unelected pen pushers in the council departments accuse us of being troublemakers.  You are the first one to stand here and see for yourself what goes on and doesnot get noticed." As we said that, one of the young girls darted in saying to a mate "the Police are passing, hide my vodka!" After that I can see why the businesses and police are getting sick to death of this problem.  As a customer of the other business said:- "There is a distinct lack of responsibility by some of the towns' parents.  Often it is the ones with the money who have the kids who are causing the problems.  Don't the parents know what the children are using the cash for?"  Another business said:- "I am sick of the kids using my business name when being asked by police for information.  I get the blame for things that go on and it is only because I refuse to serve them so I get the blamed by the kids.  They will not grass up the true locations where they get things from, or it will stop serving them in the future!" Even the licensed venues are telling me that most of the problems caused in the town, often happen after small gangs of youngsters wind up adults who have been out for a drink.  Later that night I witnessed one such problem.  That incident tied up not one police car, but three, a van and police officers on foot and a community officer! Again in the same section of town these kids had been hanging around.  Later one Police officer told me that a gang of youths was running around with a spade hitting things.  He asked if I had any photos of them, to which I had to say, "No".  Like the businesses, if I had tried to take any photos, I would have been in trouble in more ways than one.  This makes it hard for the police to identify potential problems, but we are all too afraid to do it.  At 11pm, I was shocked to see a group of 6 young girls, aged around 13 to 15 years of age, walking around looking at the bars and clubs to see if they could get in! I will point out that I did not see one go in, but who would let their kids out at that time of night and allow them to do this?  Some time back, it was brought to the attention of the police that kids and young adults were hiding drinks in bottles along Lord Street.  These hidden stashes, I have found out, are still being made.  The booze, that makes the youngsters drunk in some form or other, is not often consumed in the night clubs.  Most are from these stashes of cheap booze that they have obtained earlier on.  So if you do see these stashes, please tell the police! This way, as Christmas approaches we might be able to cut some of the access these kids have to their drinks.

This problem, seen at first hand, has left me very worried about the town's image.  I think that this type of thing is putting more and more people off visiting the town at night as it seems increasingly dodgy.  If you do go in to town you may still have a good night, if you are sensible, but sadly, as the businesses and customers are pointing out to me, how many will no longer take that risk?  We need to support our nightlife and the police by not complaining about the businesses, but rather focus on the real issue.  The young people often perceive that they do not really have any good places to hang out in with things to do.  They are also told never to go out without being with friends, for safety reasons, so when young people do appear together, they get a hostile reaction from their elders, even when they are behaving properly.  So what is left for them to do?  Perhapsa look at Liverpool could offer some inspiration.  Liverpool is a glowing example of what can be done when you try and tackle the root causes of the problems and there they are now profiting from their efforts.  We also need to work out as to what we are; a retirement town or a tourist town, which we are renowned for.  If we are to continue as a tourist town, we need a good, safe night-time economy and we also need facilities for young people which are free and do not have strings attached...

We have not published the letter as it might reveal the identity of the business who had asked us to run this report.

Email our newsroom your views on this report and Southport's Nightlife to:- news24@southportreporter.com.