Mother of Rhys Jones’ teenage killer Sean Mercer jailed for lyingTHE mother of Rhys Jones’s teenage killer was jailed for three years yesterday.
Janette Mercer, 49, was locked up for lying to detectives investigating the 11-year-old’s murder. Her gang member son Sean, now 18, was jailed for life last year after he was convicted of shooting the innocent schoolboy as he fired at rivals across a pub car park.
Alongside her in the Liverpool Crown Court dock were the parents of James Yates, the 21-year-old who armed Mercer with the murder weapon.
Francis Yates, 49, was jailed for 4½ years, while his wife Marie, 51, both of Dodman Road, Croxteth, received 18 months after they also admitted trying to pervert the murder investigation.
Jailing them in front of Rhys’s parents, the Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Henry Globe, QC, said: “Each of you, acting as you did, was misleading the police in relation to their inquiry, frustrating their investigation into the murder, diminishing the prospect of detection, wasting valuable police time in undermining the whole process of criminal justice.”
Mercer showed no emotion during the hearing, but smiled at friends in the public gallery as she was led down.
The mother-of-three, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, had arrived at court carrying an overnight bag.
She supported her killer son by lying to police about a distinctive bike he used to cycle to and away from the murder scene at the Fir Tree pub car park.
Judge Globe told her: “Your son was a key suspect in the murder and you knew he had told a pack of lies. You backed him up and you told more lies.”
Francis and Marie Yates admitted burning a mobile phone chip belonging to their son, while Francis also admitted trying to give Mercer a false alibi.
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