Rhys killer seeks leave to appeal

A spokeswoman in the appeals office, criminal division, of the Court of Appeal said: "We have received a request for leave for an appeal against the conviction and sentence of Sean Mercer."

Teenage gunman Mercer, 18, was jailed for a minimum of 22 years in December after a jury unanimously convicted him of the murder of the 11-year-old schoolboy. The shaven headed thug had 28 days from conviction to lodge his 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.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service in Merseyside said: "We will be resisting this appeal and we expect it to be listed for a hearing in due course."

Mercer was convicted on December 15 of gunning down the schoolboy in August 2007.

Last month the judge in the murder trial launched a blistering criticism of the teenager as he sentenced him.

He told the killer and his fellow Croxteth Crew gang members: "You have no discipline, no training, no honour. You do not command respect. You may think you do, but that is because you cannot tell the difference between respect and fear. You are selfish, shallow criminals, remarkable only by the danger you pose to others."

Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, shot Rhys through the neck as the youngster walked home from football training on a sunny summer evening. The murderer, just 16 at the time, was shooting at rival members of the Norris Green gang who hail from just a mile down the road.

He fired three bullets. His first shot hit a steel container behind Rhys and the second entered the boy's back and exited through his neck. Remarkably, after seeing Rhys fall to the floor, Mercer blasted another shot at his enemies, who were on the opposite side of the Fir Tree pub car park.