Mother tells how she held dying Rhys

THE mother of Rhys Jones yesterday described cradling her son as paramedics fought to save his life.

In a witness statement read out at the trial of the teenager accused of 11-year-old Rhys's murder, Melanie Jones described being in a state of "total shock" after her son was shot and added: "I didn't take anything in."

Mrs Jones said she was told of the shooting by the coach of her son's football team. They then drove to the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth, Liverpool, where Rhys was being treated by paramedics.

She said: "As I arrived at the Fir Tree I saw a number of people, including police and paramedics attending to my son, Rhys.

"I cradled him while the paramedics dealt with him. I then went with my son to Alder Hey Hospital, where he was pronounced dead."

Rhys was killed on 22 August last year as he crossed the car park of the pub on his way home from football training.

Sean Mercer, 18, of Croxteth, denies murder.

Mrs Jones, 43, added: "My son Rhys was a happy, outgoing child whose favourite sport was football. He supported Everton and had a season ticket with his dad and brother. They went to all the home games.

"Rhys was a very good footballer. Football was his life and he had a very good circle of friends he played football with.

"He had a very happy and stable family upbringing. We are a very close family."

Earlier in the hearing yesterday, a 14-year-old, who cannot be identified, told the jury he saw a hooded gunman in the seconds before and after Rhys was shot. The witness was sitting with a friend in a tree behind the pub.

In a taped police interview played to the jury, he said: "I saw a lad aged about 13 or 14 riding past really fast on a black BMX bike. He had a black tracksuit on and a black hoodie on.

"He went around the side of the pub and about three seconds after we lost sight of him, we heard the shots.

"A few seconds after that, he came back riding very quickly. He was trying to push something into his pocket, and nearly crashed because he was concentrating on what he was doing.

"The BMX wobbled a bit. He went off the path and on to the grass. Then he rode away."

Six others are alongside Mercer in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court.

All deny the charges against them.

The case continues.

WHO'S WHO

• Sean Mercer, 18, is accused of murder. He denies the charge.

• James Yates, 20, denies two counts of assisting an offender and possessing a gun.

• Gary Kays, 25, denies two counts of assisting an offender, namely, providing the killer with transport.

• Melvin Coy, 25, also denies two counts of assisting an offender which are the same as the charges facing Gary Kays.

• Boy K, 17, denies possessing the murder weapon, another gun, ammunition and assisting an offender by hiding the murder weapon.

• Boy Q, 17, denies two charges of assisting an offender by helping to dump the clothes and gun.

• Boy M, 16, denies three counts of assisting an offender by dumping the gun, clothes and bike used by the killer.