'Absolutely heartbreaking'
Little Boy Blue Viewers reveal their heartache as drama revisits the tragic murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones
Episode one recreated the heartbreaking moments Rhys' parents were told about the incident
LITTLE Boy Blue viewers were overwhelmed with emotion while watching the heartbreaking story of 11-year-old Rhys Jones's tragic death.
The first episode of the four part series revisited the moment Rhys's mum Melanie was informed her boy had been fatally wounded in a pub car park on his way home from football practice.
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Just minutes into the programme, Twitter was awash with emotional viewers sharing their thoughts on what happened that evening in August 2007.
One wrote: "This is absolutely heartbreaking #littleboyblue"
While another posted: "How absolutely horrible that must be for a mother to hear, her son's been shot #littleboyblue"
A third said: "Watching little boy blue on ITV heart breaking story"
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A fourth shared: "Omg!! Worst nightmare #littleboyblue"
Other comments saw viewers say they felt "sick" and that they were "sobbing".
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"Hard to believe how much ur life can be destroyed in so little time 😢 💙💙#littleboyblue" posted another.
Rhys was heading home alone after football practice at 7.30pm in broad daylight when a hooded youth, later found to be Sean Mercer, cycled by and fired three shots from a handgun.
One struck Rhys in the back and his distraught mum rushed to the scene when she heard what had happened.
Paramedics tried for over an hour-and-a-half to save Rhys, but he was later pronounced dead at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
After months of investigations and arrests, 18-year-old Mercer – a member of the Croxteth Crew gang – was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, serving a minimum of 22 years.
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It recently emerged Mercer, now 26, is “frantic” to be moved to a cushier prison because he can’t hack it in his tough, high-security jail.
Other gang members were also sentenced for assisting an offender.
James Yates, 28, and Dean Kelly, 25, were jailed after supplying the firearm and helping to hide Mercer when he was on the run from cops after the killing.
They recently escaped prosecution for peddling heroin in Dundee after the case collapsed.
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