Who is Boy X, known as Kevin Moody in Little Boy Blue? The 17-year-old who hid the Rhys Jones murder weapon in his dog kennel
THE tragic murder of schoolboy Rhys Jones has been turned into a thrilling four-part ITV drama, Little Boy Blue, which concludes TONIGHT.
Ultimately, it was the evidence of one terrified gang member, Boy X, that secured justice. This is his background...
Who is Boy X?
"Boy X" is the name used in court for the gang member who hid the revolver used to kill schoolboy Rhys Jones.
He later gave testimony against the other teenagers involved in the crime, gaining immunity from prosecution. He must now live undercover forever.
The 17-year-old, who has been given the pseudonym Kevin Moody in ITV drama Little Boy Blue (played by Michael Moran), was caught following covert surveillance.
Police raided his parents' home - on the fringe of the Croxteth Crew gang's patch - and found the murder weapon, a 1915 Smith & Wesson revolver, hidden in the loft.
At the time Boy X was on holiday in Florida with his family, but he was arrested at the airport when he returned a week later.
Under pressure from his parents, Boy X revealed Sean Mercer had given him the gun to hide and told him: "Don't say anything to anyone!"
He told officers how he was phoned by Mercer 20 minutes after the shooting and was asked to pick him up at the home of another teen accomplice, Boy M, in a taxi.
Boy X said he took the weapon home and hid it in the dog kennel. It was later moved to his loft by gang member Dean Kelly.
The 17-year-old was offered immunity from prosecution in exchange for his evidence, as well as a changed identity and a move away from Croxteth.
Tragic Rhys's parents praised the courage of the star witness.
Grieving mum Melanie Jones said: "It was a very brave thing to do."
Hubby Stephen added: "It shows how breaking the silence can bring down the gangs."
Who was Rhys Jones?
Rhys Jones was an 11-year-old schoolboy from Liverpool.
The son of parents Stephen, from Liverpool, and Melanie Jones, from Wrexham, he was tragically killed just one month before his twelfth birthday.
Rhys had just left Broad Square Primary School on the city’s Norris Green housing estate, and was due to start at Fazakerley High School in September 2007.
People who knew him, such as his teachers and neighbours, said he was a friendly and popular boy.
He was also a massive football fan, supporting Everton FC, where he, his brother and his dad had season tickets.
Who is Rhys Jones killer Sean Mercer?
Everton fan Rhys had been on his way home from football practice when he was caught in the deadly gangland crossfire in the Liverpool suburb of Croxteth.
Mercer was a gun-obsessed 16-year-old and a leading member of the Croxteth Young Guns gang when he fatally shot Rhys with a stray bullet from a battered World War One revolver.
None of his intended targets was hit.
During his trial, Liverpool Crown Court heard that Mercer’s ‘Crocky Crew’ were involved in a turf war with the Strand Gang, aka the ‘Nogga Dogz’, from the neighbouring Norris Green estate.
There had been more than 20 reports of shots from cars or bikes between 2004 and 2007.
Two months before he shot Rhys, Mercer had been seen brandishing a gun while riding on the back of a motorcycle in a rival gang’s territory.
And on the day of the fatal shooting he was under a three-year Asbo for terrorising security guards at a sports centre.
When told that three Strand Gang members had been seen on Crocky Crew territory, Mercer raced there on a BMX, armed with the Smith & Wesson .455 revolver.
He fired three shots - the second of which hit Rhys in the back.
The youngster died at the scene, in the arms of his mother Melanie who rushed to the scene when she heard the news.
Mercer fled, hiding at a friend’s and calling on gang members to help him escape capture.
He was driven to a lock-up garage where the clothes he had been wearing were burned and his body washed with petrol to remove any traces of gunshot residue. He gave the pistol to a friend to hide.
Mercer was arrested within days but denied murder, claiming he had been at a friend’s watching a DVD when Rhys was killed.
It took eight months for Mercer to be charged. When his case came to court, in December 2008, the jury convicted him unanimously.
A string of his fellow gang members were also jailed for trying to protect Mercer.
His mum Janette, a £50-a-night prostitute, was jailed for three years for lying to police investigating her son.
What is Little Boy Blue and when it is on?
Little Boy Boy is an ITV drama following the fight to bring the killer of 11-year-old Rhys Jones to justice.
The drama tells how Sean Mercer and his associates were tracked down by detectives and prosecuted in the courts.
The four-part series began on ITV on Monday April 24, and will conclude on May 15, with each episode starting at 9pm.
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