Inmates 'attack' Rhys Jones killer after he 'mouthed off' about attack

Furious inmates ‘attack’ the killer of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in prison after ‘hearing him mouthing off’ about shooting the schoolboy

• Sean Mercer, now 32, has reportedly been attacked at HMP Wakefield, Yorkshire 
• Mercer was jailed for life in 2008 after shooting dead 11-year-old Rhys Jones 
• The murderer was said to be attacked after he boasted about killing the child
• Tensions in the prison are high following the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel  

Rhys Jones’ murderer has allegedly been attacked by angry inmates after he boasted about killing the 11-year-old boy.

Sean Mercer was imprisoned for life, with a minimum sentence of 22 years, in 2008 after he shot Rhys dead as he walked home from football practice in Liverpool.

The killer is locked up at a Category A jail, HMP Wakefield, Yorkshire, where he sent his fellow jail mates into a fury after boasting about the murder.

Mercer, now 32, was said he ‘didn’t care’ about killing the young boy while he was ‘mouthing off’ about how he could do what he wanted, the Daily Star reports.

The Ministry of Justice denies that Mercer was attacked. 

Sean Mercer, now 32, (pictured) was imprisoned for life, with a minimum sentence of 22 years, in 2008 after he shot Rhys Jones dead as he walked home from football practice in Liverpool

An insider said: ‘Blows were raining down on him, prisoners were furious he was boasting about it.

‘Mercer wants to be a big boy behind bars – he is known for getting up to stuff, trying to sneak in contraband and that.

‘But he has a mouth as well, and he started shouting it about in front of the wrong people at the wrong time when he hasn’t even been here that long.

‘Many people think it was long overdue for what he did to that baby.’

The killer had only moved to the prison recently, after he was accused of being part of a corruption ring at HMP Frankland in Durham.

11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead as he walked home from football training in August 2007

In 2000 he was first moved to HMP Gartree in the Midlands.

Tensions at the Yorkshire prison are said to be high following the shooting of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was killed in Liverpool.

The young girl’s death coincided with the 15th anniversary of Rhys’ death.

The source added: ‘There’s been a lot of chat about the shootings and obviously Mercer is in for killing a little boy.

‘Him acting like he didn’t care is what kicked things off – people don’t take kindly to people who are in for hurting kids.

‘He hasn’t always been at this prison; he was trying to exert some authority. But he’s had a shock, because people in here won’t stand for it.’

The Ministry of Justice have been contacted for a statement.  

How the killing of young Rhys Jones as he walked home from football training shocked a nation 

Rhys Jones was felled by a single bullet to the neck as he strolled home in broad daylight from football training – an innocent victim caught in the mindless and indiscriminate crossfire of two gangs waging war around Croxteth Park, in Liverpool.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, the youngster bled to death in his mother’s arms after she had rushed to the scene.

The summer’s day when unimaginable violence entered the Jones family’s quiet and unremarkable lives had begun for mother Melanie with the most mundane of outings – taking the boys to the local dentist, then going to buy a new school tie for Rhys. 

Her younger son was excited about getting his new uniform, including a Nike sports kit, to start secondary school before tragedy struck. 

The murder was one that shocked the nation, and beyond, with Rhys’ parents receiving tributes and cards of condolence from across the globe. 

Players and staff of Everton football club pay their respects at the spot where 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead in the Croxteth area of Liverpool

Rhys’ family, including mother Melanie and father Stephen and brother Owen, at the minute’s appreciation before the start of the Premier League match between Everton and Blackburn Rovers at Goodison Park

More than 2,500 mourners came to the funeral at Liverpool Cathedral, with the public invited to wear bright colours and football strips, as Rhys’ father, Stephen, read a poem he had written for his son, and footballer Alan Stubbs read from the Bible.

A huge Everton fan, Rhys was buried in a blue coffin featuring the club crest, while the heroes he cheered on from the terraces laid a floral tribute, football boots and shirts at the scene of the killing in memory of the passionate young Toffee.

Fans and players also paid tribute to him with a minute’s applause in a game against Blackburn Rovers against Goodison Park, where Rhys used to regularly watch his team, holding the hand of his father.  

A limited edition purple kit made in memory of the youngster also become the club’s fastest selling pre-ordered shirt, raising thousands of pounds for the Liverpool Unites children’s charity. 

Rhys Jones’ murder sparked much discussion in the House of Commons about guns and gang culture

Rhys’ parents Steve and Mel were inundated with messages from well-wishers after the tragedy

The Rhys Jones Memorial Fund raised money to fund a new community centre close to where the 11-year-old died, which opened six years after the death in August 2013. 

As well as emotional tributes, the murder sparked much discussion about guns and gang culture, and was referenced several times by MPs in the House of Commons.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith described the death as ‘tragic and very serious for his community’. 

Speaking in October 2007, she added: ‘I have made available £1 million and set up the tackling gangs action plan, and I am pleased that the deputy chief constable of Merseyside police, Jon Murphy, is now leading that work. 

‘We are increasing activity in the neighbourhoods in Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Birmingham and London where most gun and gang-related violence occurs.’

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, pictured in 2018, described the death as ‘tragic and very serious for his community’

How Rhys’ killer was brought to justice 

August 22, 2007: Rhys Jones is shot and killed near the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth on his way home from football training 

August 25, 2007: As tributes flood in across the country and beyond, Rhys’ beloved Everton hold a minute’s applause in his memory before their Premier League game with Blackburn

September 6, 2007: More than 2,500 wear football kits and bright colours at the youngster’s funeral at Liverpool Cathedral

September 26, 2007: Rhys’ parents appeal for witnesses to come forward as an episode of BBC’s Crimewatch reconstructs the killing

April 15, 2008: Twelve people are arrested in connection with the murder after a series of dawn raids in the city 

October 2, 2008: Murder suspect Sean Mercer goes on trial at Liverpool Crown Court

December 16, 2008: Mercer is found guilty of the 11-year-old’s murder after a nine-week trial and later sentenced to life with a minimum of 22 years

August 31, 2013: The Rhys Jones Community Centre opens on Langley Close, Croxteth Park 

April 24, 2017: Little Boy Blue airs on ITV 

May 6, 2020: Rhys’ parents reveal their anger at finding out Mercer wants to appeal his sentence

As the police investigation was launched, featuring more than 300 officers and gun crime specialists, Rhys’ parents made two emotional appeals for the killer to be found, the first the day after the murder.

Then they appeared on the BBC TV programme Crimewatch and directed their pleas to the mother of the gunman, as they recalled rumours of the killer’s name being whispered in estates and pubs around the city – something the couple tried to distance themselves from.

While many locally talked about violence and anti-social behaviour, the couple’s focus on work and family perhaps kept them unaware of the dangerous gang culture lurking in the areas surrounding their home. 

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday in 2008, a year on from the tragedy, Melanie told of how secret recordings of conversations in the homes of the gangs, which helped to build the case against them, had offered a shocking insight into the area’s violence.

‘Hearing how the parents and kids speak to each other, you think there is no respect – on both sides. This is so far away from our life that I can’t comprehend it. I don’t know what the answer is.

‘You can talk about needing community centres and schools getting involved but the buck has to stop with the parents,’ she said.   

In the hours after the death, local radio station Radio City 96.7’s programmes were dedicated to an amnesty for witnesses and a talk on gun crime. 

Radio City also launched an anti-gun-crime campaign, backed by the parents, In Rhys’s Name Get Guns Off Our Streets, after the incident. 

The tragedy also inspired ITV’s four-part documentary programme, Little Boy Blue – first aired in 2017 and being repeated on Sunday night – which documents the youngster’s death and the subsequent investigation, led by Detective Superintendent Dave ‘Ned’ Kelly, played by Stephen Graham. 

The tragedy also inspired ITV’s four-part documentary programme, Little Boy Blue, which documents the youngster’s death and the subsequent investigation, led by Detective Superintendent Dave ‘Ned’ Kelly, played by Stephen Graham

At the time of its broadcast, viewers took to social media to describe the story as ‘heartbreaking’, though Pat Gallan, who was part of the probe into the death, insisted the show ‘should not be taken as fact’.

She argued the programme, in which she is played by Sara Powell, offered an unfair take on her behaviour at the time of the case, as she is shown to seemingly be more interested in the image of the force than securing justice for the family. 

ITV defended the way all featured in the series are portrayed however, as a spokesperson told the Telegraph: ‘Little Boy Blue is a drama based on extensive research with the Jones family and many others involved in the case. We are satisfied that it depicts the officers involved in the murder investigation fairly’.  

Earlier this month, it emerged that the’ killer Sean Mercer, was looking to appeal his sentence.

Rhys’ father told the Liverpool Echo: ‘You read certain things that Mercer is a changed person, but like the others in his gang have proved, they’ve been in more trouble since Rhys was killed. I don’t think he’s changed.’

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