Rhys Jones murder enquiry (2008) Merseyside Police
On 22nd August 2007, Rhys Jones, an eleven-year-old boy, was shot dead in Liverpool while walking home from football practice.
AVF was engaged by Merseyside Police to enhance the covert audio from probes located in the suspects houses recording their conversations, transcribe and subtitle the conversations to video. This was a highly detailed piece of work spanning 6 months.
Sean Mercer, aged 16 at the time of the shooting, went on trial on 2 October 2008 and was found guilty of murder on 16th December. Mercer was sentenced to life imprisonment serving a minimum of 22 years. In January 2009, James Yates (who supplied the firearm to Mercer) was sentenced to seven years, Dean Kelly to four years, and Nathan Quinn to two years. Parents of the gang members, including Mercer's mother and the parents of Yates, were later tried and convicted for perverting the course of justice.
