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‘A kid has gone down, youth accused of Rhys gun killing told friend’
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent10.10.08
The youth accused of killing Rhys Jones
admitted he had “just shot someone and a kid had gone down”, a court heard today.
Sean Mercer, 18, forced a 16-year-old boy into helping him destroy evidence, the jury was told. The teenager, known as M, said Mercer was so terrifying he was made to act against his will.
M is accused of disposing of Mercer's hat and gloves after the Liverpool shooting and arranging to get rid of the bike used to escape the scene. At the same time Mercer and his gang burned clothing and he cleaned himself down with
petrol to destroy any gunshot residue on him, the court heard.
Mercer has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Rhys, who was shot dead as he walked home from football training in Croxteth. The 11-year-old was an innocent victim of a gang feud between Mercer's Croxteth Crew and the gunman's intended targets, members of the Strand Gang.
On the second day of the trial at Liverpool crown court, Neil Flewitt, prosecuting, said M had given a false alibi when he was arrested a week after the shooting in August last year.
Seven months later he was re-arrested and admitted his claim to have been watching the England v Germany football match at home was a lie and that Mercer had come to his house that night. “M told the police that his grandmother answered the door to Mercer, who said that he had just shot someone and that a kid had gone down,” said Mr Flewitt. “During the course of that interview M admitted that he had got rid of a hat and gloves that had been left with him by Mercer.” Mr Flewitt added: “Unlike the other defendants, M accepts most of what is alleged against him.
“It is his case that he is not guilty of the offences because he was not exercising free will but rather of acting in fear of Mercer.”
Mercer's distinctive mountain bike — identical to the one used by the gunman — was found by a father and son cycling across waste ground the day after the shooting, the court heard.
James Yates, 20, denies possessing the murder weapon, a .455 Smith & Wesson, and assisting Mercer in disposing of it, and his clothing.
Gary Kays, 25, and Melvin Coy, 24, have also pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender. Two 17-year-olds, known as Q and K, deny charges of assisting an offender. M has pleaded not guilty to similar charges. The case continues.
