‘Justice’ is a term that hangs around the city of Liverpool like a bad smell, probably owing to the fact that the word has been used and overused in reference to the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster being failed by the British judicial system (and rightly so in this author’s opinion). Hillsborough was not the only miscarriage of justice that happened to the city of Liverpool as other natives found to their cost.
In February 1993, two-year-old James Bulger was taken from The Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle and murdered in the most horrific of circumstances.
Bulger’s killers, Robert Thompson and John Venables, were released in 2001. Former Home Secretary Michael Howard had announced that the pair would remain in custody for a minimum of 15 years – a decision which was overruled by the Court of Appeal. The then Lord Chief Justice had ruled that Thompson and Venables should serve 10 years minimum with them eligible for parole on the tenth anniversary of them being charged with James’s murder. Since their release they have been given new identities and lifetime immunity despite countless media reports as to their whereabouts.
Fourteen years later 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot as he walked home from football practice in Croxteth. The murder brought the anger and hatred back to the surface as another young life was tragically cut short by another juvenile delinquent, only this one was infatuated with gang culture.
Sean Mercer was so obsessed with a turf war between his home neighbourhood of Croxteth and nearby Norris Green that he went out on a Wednesday evening in August last year to fire three bullets across a the car park of The Fir Tree pub as a warning to members of the rival Strand Gang who had encroached on his turf. One of those bullets hit an innocent bystander – Rhys Jones.
As we all know, Rhys did not survive the attack and Mercer has been given a life sentence and Mr Justice Irwin, presiding over the case, told Mercer a few home truths as he sentenced the now 18-year-old:
“There is only one sentence for murder, in your case detention for life, in formal language detention at Her Majesty’s pleasure, and that is the sentence I shall pass upon you.
“This offence arose from stupid, brutal gang conflict which has struck this part of Liverpool. You were caught up in that from a young age, but it is clear you gloried in it.
“It is wrong to let anyone glorify or romanticise this kind of gang conflict. You are not soldiers. You have no discipline, no training, no honour.
“You do not command respect. You may think you do, but that it because you cannot tell the difference between respect and fear.
“You are selfish, shallow criminals, remarkable only by the danger you pose to others.
“You were told that Brady and others from Norris Green had been seen on the Croxteth Park Estate, and you took that as an invasion of your territory, or to occupation of it.
“Or it may be you saw this as an opportunity. And so you armed yourself and set off.
“Your aggression became alloyed with cowardice. You stopped by that wall, and fired at your intended victims from 70 yards across a pub car park, with bystanders all round.
“Your second shot cut down Rhys Jones. He died because of your brutality and because you are a coward.
“You gave no evidence in your trial. In my view it is absolutely clear that you had no answer to the case against you. You proved you were a coward again.
“Rhys Jones’s life is gone. We do not take a life for a life, although even if you are released, you will be under licence and supervised for as long as you live.
“However, the proper punishment here will have the effect that you will not emerge from prison, even at earliest, for a very long time.
“Take him down.”
Brutal, true but a summing up that was too pleasant for Mercer. Unfortunately judges have not been given the rubber stamp to use the term ‘scum’ in court.
Reporters have said that throughout the trial Mercer, from a history of showed no remorse whatsoever and acted as if he were prowling the streets of Croxteth and not in a courtroom being accused of murder. One said that he treated the case as if it were ‘nothing more than a maths lesson he wishes he could have bunked off’. Apparently laughing and joking with his fellow Croxteth Crew members who were also in the dock, past caring about the repercussions of his actions. Claims backed up by footage taken by ITV News of him roaming the streets of his ‘turf’ in the months after the murder, still walking round with a proud swagger.
What was equally astounding was the comments from Kelly Marshall, Mercer’s girlfriend, who claimed that he was ‘a hero’.
“Sean is a lovely lad. He wouldn't harm anyone. It wasn't him,” she said.
'It was the bizzies' fault. They saw it coming. The shootings had been building up for years. But they didn't do anything to stop it. They just let it carry on and then Rhys Jones was killed.
'My head is wrecked. My fella's in court every day and they're saying he did this and that. And it wasn't him.”
You really have to feel for the girl don’t you? Her ‘fella’ was in court and going down for at least 22 years for killing a kid and it is Merseyside Police’s fault. The fact that she uses the scally ritual cry of “'it was the bizzies' fault” gives you an indication as to what type of people associate themselves with these petty gang feuds.
A national paper has criticised Merseyside Police for ‘allowing’ Mercer and his gang to run riot on the streets of north Liverpool in the run up to Rhys’ murder.
According to the Daily Mail, Mercer was stopped 80 times by the force prior to and after the murde which allowed him to embark on a 'trial run' two months before the murder, riding a motorbike through rival gang territory and waving a gun.
That is all well and good with hindsight but Merseyside Police should be commended for their efforts in bringing the culprit of this heinous crime to account for his actions. Despite Mercer being named as the killer in graffiti around Croxteth shortly after the shooting, detectives did not have substantial evidence to convict the then 16-year-old.
Their persistence in tracking down and charging all six gang members involved in not only the murder, but also perverting the course of justice as Mercer evaded prosecution.
Yesterday’s ruling will serve as some form of comfort to Rhys’ parents Melanie and Steve who, like Denise Bulger 15 years previous, have conducted themselves with dignity throughout the trial which saw them relive every element of their son’s horrific ordeal for previous two months. The way they have behaved since Rhys’ murder is a credit to them and to the city of Liverpool.
Finally, justice has finally been done for one of Liverpool’s fallen sons.
