A GASP was heard from the jury box as CCTV footage of the shooting of Rhys Jones was played at a murder trial today.

Seconds before the three-second clip was shown, the schoolboy’s mother, Melanie, 42, fled the court in tears as the prosecution began to outline her son’s final moments.

The CCTV clip showed Rhys crossing the car park of the Fir Tree public house, in Croxteth, Liverpool, and become distracted by the sound of a bullet striking a container nearby.

The court watched as the CCTV footage showed Rhys turn to look in the direction of the container and as he did so he was struck by what the prosecution say was the second bullet fired by the gunman.

The images showed Rhys, 11, fall to the ground where he later died in his mother’s arms.

Mrs Jones, wearing a purple dress and cardigan, had sat through the opening of the trial alongside her husband, Stephen, 45, who wore a grey suit and a purple ribbon, a symbol of an anti-gun campaign launched in Liverpool in memory of Rhys, on his lapel.

She heard prosecutor Neil Flewitt QC describe how her innocent 11-year-old son had died when he strayed into a feud between rival gangs.

He was hit by a bullet fired by teenager Sean Mercer and died a few hundred yards from his home, it was alleged.

Mercer, 18, who denies the 11-year-old’s murder, immediately tried to cover his tracks and was helped by six fellow gang members, including three other teenagers, the court heard.