THE mother of Rhys Jones sobbed silently as jurors heard how she cradled her son in her arms as he lay dying.

A silence fell on Liverpool Crown Court as prosecution barrister Neil Flewitt QC read a statement from Melanie Jones.

Mopping away tears, Mrs Jones looked down at her lap as the emotive passage was read out to court 3.1.

Throughout the trial she has worn a locket with a picture of her son around her neck.

Mrs Jones, 42, described Rhys’s love of football and the moment she discovered he had been shot.

She wrote: “My son Rhys was a happy, out-going, child.

“His favourite sport was football. He supported Everton Football Club and he had a season ticket together with his dad and brother and would attend most matches.

“He was a very good player himself and played for a local team, the Fir Tree under 12s.

“Football was his life. He had a very good circle of friends, who he played in a football team with.”

Telling of Rhys’s “happy family upbringing”, Mrs Jones said that on the day of his death she had been at home caring for him and his older brother Owen.

Rhys, who had been due to start Fazakerley senior school the following month, left the family home in Croxteth Park on August 22, 2007, to go to football practice.

Wearing a dark blue England football shirt, the 11-year-old set off at 6pm, but returned about 10 minutes later after forgetting his football subs.

Mrs Jones gave him the money and walked him back to the field.

Just over an hour later, she answered the door to football coach Tony Edge.

She wrote: “He was extremely agitated and told me Rhys had been shot. He said he had come to take me back to the playing fields. I was in a state of total shock.”

On the way to the training ground, Mrs Jones rang her husband Stephen, 45, who had been driving to work.

She added: “At the pub, I saw a number of police officers and paramedics.

“The paramedics were attending to my son Rhys as he lay on the floor.

“I cradled him as the para-medics attended to him. I went in the ambulance with my son to Alder Hey hospital, where he was later declared dead.”

Silence fell on the court, as Mr Flewitt finished reading the statement.

Mr Jones, 45, fixed his red-rimmed eyes on the file of evidence in front of him, while other members of the family wiped away tears.

Some of the defendants hung their heads, while jurors also looked visibly moved.