Rhys gang members in appeal bid

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Melvin Coy has applied for leave to appeal against his conviction and Gary Kays has lodged papers against his conviction and sentence, the appeals office at the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, confirmed.

The murder trial last year was told that father-of-one Coy, 25, and Kays, 26, picked up gunman Sean Mercer after he shot the schoolboy in Croxteth, Liverpool, in August 2007. Rhys died in his mother's arms in the car park of the Fir Tree pub.

Joiner Kays, of Mallard Close, and welder Coy, of Abbeyfield Drive, both West Derby, Liverpool, were both jailed on December 16 for seven years for two counts of assisting an offender.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: "When we are notified by the Court of Appeal we will prepare for the appeal hearing."

Earlier this week the court confirmed Mercer, 18, had applied for leave to appeal against conviction and his 22-year sentence. Mercer, Kays and Coy had 28 days from conviction to lodge an appeal.

The application is the first stage in the appeal process which will be reviewed by a judge before permission to launch a full appeal is granted.

After the shooting Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, cycled to the home of Boy M - a 16-year-old who cannot be named - and began a systematic bid to evade justice, Liverpool Crown Court heard during the 11-week trial. He enlisted the help of James Yates, 20, Nathan Quinn, 18, Dean Kelly, 17, Boy M, Melvin Coy, 25, and Gary Kays, 26.

The seven orchestrated a scheme to remove Mercer to Coy's warehouse in nearby Kirkby where he was doused with petrol to remove gunshot residue, the jury were told. They destroyed his clothes and hid the murder weapon at the home of Boy X - who became a prosecution witness when he accepted an offer of immunity from prosecution for giving evidence.

The gang members thought they had got away with it. But detectives had bugged the homes of Boy M and Yates - which produced damning audio evidence. Yates, of Dodman Road, Quinn, of Wickett Close, Boy M and Dean Kelly, of Sword Walk, will be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on January 29.