RHYS JONES’S parents are “misguided” for criticising the prison sentence given to a gangster who helped their son’s killer, a defence lawyer said last night.

Stephen and Melanie Jones hit out at the seven-year sentence given to James Yates as a “disgrace” last week.

Yates was the Croxteth Crew gang member who gave murderer Sean Mercer the Smith and Wesson revolver used to gun down 11-year-old Rhys in August, 2007.

But Yates’s defence lawyer, Julian Linskill, last night said Mr and Mrs Jones were acting out of “understandable” emotion.

He told the Daily Post that the use of the word “disgrace” by the Jones family was not a proper reflection on the judge’s sentence.

He said: “It’s misguided. It was a fair and reasonable sentence, having regard to all the facts.

“Yes, I understand the emotion, but then, on the other hand, justice should not be administered in an emotional atmosphere.”

Yates, 20, was jailed for seven years on Thursday for possessing a weapon. He will also serve two five-year sentences, to run concurrently, for assisting an offender and will qualify for release in three years, having served six months on remand.

Responding to the sentence, Mr and Mrs Jones said: “We are disgusted. He is the one who provided the gun which killed our son.

“He deserved a longer sentence and we feel seven years is a disgrace. Our lives will never be the same without Rhys. It’s us who are serving the life sentence and we face that every day.”

Mr Justice Irwin could have jailed Yates for 10 years, the maximum jail term available for possession of a firearm. The offence carries a minimum sentence of five years.

But Mr Linskill said the judge was “spot on” with seven years as a higher – or lower – sentence could have risked an appeal from either side.