The murder of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones was a terrible killing which appalled the whole country, a judge told jurors at the alleged gunman’s trial.
Mr Justice Stephen Irwin made the remarks as he began summing up the case at Liverpool Crown Court.
Rhys, 11, was shot dead at the Fir Tree Public House in Croxteth on August 22 last year.
Sean Mercer, 18, denies murder and says he was at a friend’s home watching a DVD when Rhys was killed.
Six others deny assisting an offender.
Mr Justice Irwin told jurors: “This terrible killing has caught the attention of the whole country and indeed has appalled the whole country.
“The death of an innocent boy, the echo of other innocent deaths. The glimpse of fear caused by the agenda of gangs and a churning in the stomach caused by the feeling that Rhys could have been anyone, your son or my son.
“This is not what decides this case. You decide this case. You know more than anybody about this case. The attention from outside, I know, will not distract you from deciding this case.”
The prosecution claim Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, blasted three shots across the car park after targeting members of the rival Strand Gang who had strayed on to his turf.
James Yates, 20, of Dodman Road, and Nathan Quinn, 18, of Wickett Close, both Croxteth; Gary Kays, 25, of Mallard Close, and Melvin Coy, 24, of Abbeyfield Drive, both West Derby, Liverpool, deny assisting an offender along with Boy M, 16, and Boy K, 17, who cannot be named.
