Post by Libby on Jan 29, 2009 16:06:13 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7858300.stm
Four members of a gang who helped the killer of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones evade police, have been sentenced.
James Yates, 20, Nathan Quinn, 18, Dean Kelly, 17, and Boy M, 16, were found guilty of helping killer Sean Mercer.
Rhys, 11, was shot dead by Mercer in Croxteth on 22 August 2007.
At Liverpool Crown Court Yates was sentenced to seven years, Kelly received four years, and Quinn two. Boy M was given a supervision order.
The supervision order will run for two years. Boy M was also handed a four-month curfew to run from 1900 GMT to 0700 GMT.
Mercer has already been sentenced and will serve a minimum of 22 years after shooting Rhys dead in the car park of the Fir Tree pub as the youngster walked home from football practice.
Yates, of Dodman Road; Quinn, of Wickett Close; Kelly, of Sword Walk, and Boy M, all from Croxteth, were found guilty of assisting an offender along with fellow Croxteth Crew members Gary Kays, 26, and Melvin Coy, 25.
Speaking after the hearing, Rhys' parents Stephen and Melanie Jones said: "These sentences can in no way compensate for the loss of our loving son who had the world and his future at his feet.
"We are disgusted at the seven-year sentence given to Sean Mercer's accomplice, James Yates.
"In our minds he is the one who provided the gun that killed our son."
The 10-week trial heard the four, along with Kays and Coy, destroyed evidence and hid the murder weapon.
After the killing, Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, fled the scene by bike to the house of Boy M where a cover-up plan was hatched.
A very sad tale. Poor Rhys Jones's family have a life sentence of mourning for their son. A classic case where life should mean life.
Four members of a gang who helped the killer of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones evade police, have been sentenced.
James Yates, 20, Nathan Quinn, 18, Dean Kelly, 17, and Boy M, 16, were found guilty of helping killer Sean Mercer.
Rhys, 11, was shot dead by Mercer in Croxteth on 22 August 2007.
At Liverpool Crown Court Yates was sentenced to seven years, Kelly received four years, and Quinn two. Boy M was given a supervision order.
The supervision order will run for two years. Boy M was also handed a four-month curfew to run from 1900 GMT to 0700 GMT.
Mercer has already been sentenced and will serve a minimum of 22 years after shooting Rhys dead in the car park of the Fir Tree pub as the youngster walked home from football practice.
Yates, of Dodman Road; Quinn, of Wickett Close; Kelly, of Sword Walk, and Boy M, all from Croxteth, were found guilty of assisting an offender along with fellow Croxteth Crew members Gary Kays, 26, and Melvin Coy, 25.
Speaking after the hearing, Rhys' parents Stephen and Melanie Jones said: "These sentences can in no way compensate for the loss of our loving son who had the world and his future at his feet.
"We are disgusted at the seven-year sentence given to Sean Mercer's accomplice, James Yates.
"In our minds he is the one who provided the gun that killed our son."
The 10-week trial heard the four, along with Kays and Coy, destroyed evidence and hid the murder weapon.
After the killing, Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, fled the scene by bike to the house of Boy M where a cover-up plan was hatched.
A very sad tale. Poor Rhys Jones's family have a life sentence of mourning for their son. A classic case where life should mean life.
