Real Crime

Rhys Jones - Caught In The Crossfire (2x27)

: 15, 2009

Walking home from football practice in Liverpool in August 2007, 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead. The incident caused an outpouring of sympathy and re-ignited fears that gun crime and gang-related violence were blighting Britain's streets. But behind the headlines lay a human tragedy as Rhys's parents Melanie and Stephen struggled with bafflement and grief. Real Crime's Mark Austin interviews the couple, whose decency shines amid the depressing details of the feckless lives led by Rhys's murderer Sean Mercer and his fellow gang-members and protectors. Melanie Jones recalls a blase Mercer and his cocky little group in the dock in court during their trial: "You'd think they were up for shoplifting." Mercer, 18, was jailed for 22 years. His co-accused were convicted of helping him to evade justice. They whooped with delight as they were sent down, says Stephen Jones, and his wife still cannot get to grips with their lives: "Why don't they aspire to be someone?"