11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot and killed outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth Park, Liverpool _320
Boy C, who was on holiday in Florida at the time, was arrested on his return and interviewed.
He told police he received a phone call from Mercer 30 minutes after Rhys was shot, telling him to get a taxi to Boy M’s house, where Mercer had taken refuge.
ONCE there, Boy C was handed a bag and told to take it home. He only realised on his way home there was a gun inside.
In his panic, the teenager hid it in a dog kennel before it was moved to the loft when Dean Kelly paid the witness a visit on August 26.
On hearing Boy C’s testimony, investigators had to decide whether to charge him with assisting an offender, or to use him within the prosecution case. Establishing the truthful fullness of his story proved to be a turning point.
During a lengthy process officers looked at phone records and tracked down the taxi driver who ferried Boy C to Mercer.
They concluded Boy C was telling the truth and the CPS set about researching immunity law.
Mrs Morris said: “During the interview with him the significance of what he was saying became obvious.
“The police contacted me and careful consideration had to be given to the evidence, immunity had to be considered.
“We then had to check others supported what he was saying and only after this were we confident enough to grant immunity.”
This was granted under Section 71 of the Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, legislation used only once before, and not for a teenager without any previous convictions.
The final decision was made by the Director of Public Prosecutions, the only person able to authorise the step.
Mrs Morris said: “It took a lot of research and we had no other similar use of the act to work from.”
The exact conditions of the immunity were then brokered between lawyers. For his own personal safety, in a criminal culture where “being a snitch” is regarded as the ultimate betrayal, Boy C has since been moved to another part of the country.
BUT the immunity evidence would not have convicted the defendants without several other key pieces of evidence, including a wealth of probe material that implicated several of the offenders.
The probes – placed in the homes of Boy M and James Yates within two days of Rhys’s death – filled in vital pieces of the jigsaw. Police are naturally reluctant to reveal how the probes were successfully hidden as similar methods may be used in future cases.
And there was no certainty a jury would actually be able to listen to this taped evidence during the case.
Ms Morris said: “The probes were a valuable source of information, but we were never sure how much the jury would be able to listen to, so we submitted applications for this and for hear say evidence.
“We were very glad the jury could hear what we had heard.”
The last link in the chain was the recovery of the mountain bike used in the shooting. The silver mountain bike was discovered under a bush on a Merseyside business park near Liverpool FC’s Academy the day after Rhys was shot. It had been found by local taxi driver Leslie Shimmin who contacted police after a media appeal issued a picture of the bike. Det Supt Kelly said: “We were able to establish that Mercer had a bike stolen in February 2007.
“We found he took possession of another mountain bike and made extensive enquiries to establish the serial number of that bike.
“We then looked at CCTV of area, which showed the witness found the bike within 24 hours of the murder.
“DNA tests were carried out which connected Mercer with the bike.”
Ms Morris added: “This case has captured the imagination of people around the world.
“It has been an incredibly difficult case but also an incredibly rewarding one.
“I have such admiration for the fortitude and dignity Steven and Melanie have shown through this process.”
