Mercer’s mother Janette, 49, was also jailed for three years for perverting the course of justice as she lied to detectives during the lengthy investigation.
Mrs Jones, 43, told ITV’s Real Crime: "We are not saying we are perfect because we’re not.
"But we brought our sons up the best way we could. We like to know where our sons were, who they were with, when they were coming home – we knew their friends, what kind of friends they were, we knew their parents.
"But when you listen to the seven that were convicted for Rhys’s murder - on a day-to-day basis, they get up at 3pm, they have weed, they play video games, they have another weed, they have another and that is all they do, all day long.
"What kind of life have they got? Why don’t they want to do something else? Why don’t they aspire to be someone?"
