Here is a timeline of events since the murder of Rhys Jones.

* August 22 Rhys Jones, 11, is shot dead outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth, Liverpool, as he walked home from football practice with two friends.

* August 23 Taxi driver Leslie Shimmin, on a cycle ride with his young son, found the frame of a Specialized Hardrock mountain bike partially hidden in a small piece of overgrown wasteland on Arbour Lane, Kirkby. The spot is less than 250 metres from Coy’s lock-up.

* August 24 Bugging devices placed in the homes of suspects James Yates and Boy M.

* August 25 Residents in and around Croxteth and Norris Green were already naming Mercer as the gunman. He was arrested along with Dean Kelly and James Yates but bailed soon afterwards. Everton players and fans paid tribute to Rhys with a minute’s applause at the home game with Blackburn Rovers.

* August 26 Dean Kelly went to the home of Boy C and moved the murder weapon from the dog kennel to the loft space. He also placed a second gun and ammunition in the loft.

* August 27 Melanie Jones appealed to her son’s killer to "turn yourself in" and, heads bowed, Everton players laid a floral tribute, football boots and football shirts at the scene of the shooting.

* August 28 Liverpool football fans paid tribute to Rhys and his family before a European match at Anfield.

* August 29 A week on from the shooting, police stopped motorists in Croxteth and appealed for the driver of a red car to come forward. Boy M was arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail the next morning.

* September 4 Nathan Quinn was arrested and later released on bail.

* September 6 Thousands of mourners attended Rhys’s funeral at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral. Rhys was buried in a blue and white Everton FC coffin and mourners, including his father Stephen and brother Owen, all wore their football shirts.

* September 11 Coy’s lock-up garage in Kirkby was raided by police and two empty petrol cans were found.

* September 26 Police released CCTV footage of the suspected killer.

September 30 Police raided the home of Boy C and found the murder weapon, along with a second gun and ammunition, in the loft space. Mercer, alerted to the search, calls Boy C, who was on holiday in Florida, and told him about the raid.