Rhys Jones suspect 'admitted shooting a kid'
Friday, 10 Oct 2008 16:23
A teenager accused of killing schoolboy Rhys Jones admitted to shooting "a kid"
A teenager accused of killing schoolboy Rhys Jones admitted he had shot "a kid", a court has heard.
Rhys, 11, was shot dead as he made his way home from football practice in Croxteth Park, in Liverpool, last August.
Liverpool crown court heard today that Sean Mercer, 18, arrived at a friend's house and announced he had just "shot someone".
Mr Mercer had in fact been aiming at Wayne Brady, 20, a member of a rival local gang, it is alleged. The 18-year-old denies murder.
The prosecution told the jury that Mr Mercer had been firing at members of the Strand Gang when Rhys was struck by a stray bullet.
Mr Brady was with a friend and his cousin Kevin Davies, 19, when he heard the shots.
"I heard gun shots, three, it sounded like three. I got off straight away, I just went the opposite way from where it sounded like they were coming from," Mr Brady told the court.
When Mr Mercer was first arrested on August 25th, he said he was with a friend, known only as Boy K due to legal reasons, at the time of the fatal shooting.
Boy K, who cannot be named, denies assisting an offender, two counts of possessing a gun and a charge of possessing ammunition.
However, another defendant, 16-year-old Boy M, told Merseyside detectives that Mr Mercer had turned up at his house and admitting the shooting, the jury heard.
Neil Flewitt, prosecuting, said that Boy M "told the police that his grandmother answered the door to Sean Mercer who said that he had just shot someone and that a kid had gone down".
"Sean Mercer rang James Yates and asked him to come round and he then rang [co-defendant] Gary Kays."
Earlier today, Liverpool crown court heard how the bicycle used by the gunman to flee the Fir Tree pub was directly linked to Mr Mercer.
James Yates, 20, Croxteth, Gary Kays, 25, and Melvin Coy, 24, both West Derby, are accused of assisting an offender, alongside two teenagers aged 16 and 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
All seven defendants deny the charges.
The trial continues.