Rhys accused 'admitted shooting'

Accused's DNA match to bike

A teenager accused of murdering Rhys Jones admitted shooting someone shortly after the killing, a court has heard.

The 11-year-old was shot in the car park of the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth Park, Liverpool, on 22 August 2007.

Minutes later Sean Mercer, 18, arrived at a friend's house and said "he had just shot someone", the jury was told.

Liverpool Crown Court heard his real target was Wayne Brady, a member of a rival gang. Mr Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, denies murder.

The prosecution claims that Mr Mercer, a Croxteth Crew gang member, was firing at members of rival gang the Strand Gang, also known as the Nogga Dogz, when Rhys was killed.

There was "over-arching personal animosity" between Mr Mercer and his alleged target, 20-year-old Mr Brady, a member of the Nogga Dogz, the court heard.

Three shots

Mr Brady was with a friend and a cousin close to the Fir Tree pub at the time of the shooting.

It is claimed Mr Mercer fired three shots in their direction, and one of them hit Rhys as he walked home from football practice.

Mr Brady told the court: "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."

The jury was told that Mr Mercer declined to answer questions when he was later arrested and subsequently rearrested.

A 16-year-old defendant, Boy M, told detectives Mr Mercer arrived at his house and admitted the killing, before Mr Mercer's bicycle was collected by another defendant.

Neil Flewitt QC, for the prosecution, said 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."

A series of calls between all those accused were allegedly made and Mr Mercer, Melvin Coy, 25, Gary Kays, 25, Boy Q, 17, and James Yates, 20, then drove to Mr Coy's lock-up in nearby Kirkby.

It is claimed Mr Mercer was then washed with petrol to remove gunshot residue.

His bike, the court heard, was dumped later that night.

The court was told the bike was found by abandoned by a passer-by the day after the murder.

But it was not until six months later, when the man who had found it and taken it home realised its significance, that it was handed into police.

The prosecution said the serial number on the bike matched one handed to Mr Mercer by an insurance company after his own had been stolen.

His DNA was also found on the bike, the court heard.

Mr Flewitt said: "Those facts, we suggest, provide compelling evidence that Sean Mercer was the person who shot Rhys Jones."

James Yates, 20, of Dodman Road, Croxteth; Mr Kays, of Mallard Close, and Mr Coy, of Abbeyfield Drive, both West Derby, Liverpool, are accused of assisting an offender.

Two youths aged 16 and 17, who can only be identified as Boy M and Boy Q, also deny assisting an offender.

A sixth person, a 17-year-old known as Boy K, denies assisting an offender and possessing an illegal firearm and ammunition.

The trial continues on Monday.

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