THE man who caught Rhys Jones’s killer worked 19-hour days to make sure he got justice for the 11-year-old’s parents.

Det Supt Dave Kelly, a married father of 17-year-old triplets, has spent 30 years in the force and worked on some remarkable cases.

Born in Everton, but brought up on a council estate in Halewood, he was the first detective on the scene of James Bulger’s death and was a PC during the Toxteth riots.

But nothing has had an impact on him to match the murder of Rhys Jones.

Mr Kelly said: “I can say this investigation has been the most challenging and moving investigation that I have ever had to deal with.

“Despite that challenge, I was confident that I had a strong team working with me. Everyone in Merseyside Police pulled together on this to get justice for Rhys.

“It became apparent to me from the beginning that this was going to be a complex investigation and we stressed throughout it would not be a short investigation and that we were in for the long haul.

“Most importantly of all, we needed patience.”

Tasked with bringing justice to Rhys’s parents, he described the job as “an honour”.

Recalling the night of the schoolboy’s death, the keen golfer and Liverpool FC fan, said: “I had just got home and lit the barbecue because we had some family members round.

“My phone went and at the time I was acting head of the Major Incident Team.

“I was informed an 11-year-old boy had been shot at the Fir Tree pub and I couldn’t believe it, to be honest with you.

“The early stages of an investigation are critical because you need to identify witnesses, recover evidence, identify suspects, CCTV footage, so as I was driving there a million and one things were going through my mind... what we’re going to do, how we’ll deal with it.