"_" "_" "_" "Nice plain walls, high ceilings, lovely light." "Fantastic, makes showpiece of the dining room." "It does." " Is there anything you want to keep?" " Not even this wardrobe." " I don't like this room." " It can all go!" "I have to take my signing-on fee in tonight." " Calm down, Rhys!" " It's ã5!" "Drive me back or I'll miss the start." "Goodness sake!" "It's only a fiver." "They wouldn't have minded if we'd paid next week." "We've got to pay it today!" "Steve, Owen!" "Just popping out." " Come on!" " I'm coming!" "Right, let's go." "Come on." "On your head." "Get over here." " You could have brought it next week." " I told you!" "Want me to pick you up?" " I'll run him home if you want." " Thanks, Steve." " See you later." " See ya." "Come on, boys!" "Where'd you go?" "His subs were due tonight." "You know what he's like, he gets himself into a state." "Guess how many balls he's got at the moment: nine." "He's dented the garage door, kicking them against it." "I saw." "He said he was trying to bend it round the bins." "How are you supposed to make a ball bend?" "It's round." "Bend it round the wall." "What wall?" "Doesn't matter." "Right." "You're not going in early again, are you?" "I thought you were going to do a bit of painting for me." "I'd better get going in early." "Harry Potter merchandise launch tomorrow." "At least have a look at the colours." "They don't pay you any extra." "Record the England game for me." "What for?" "We're going to lose." " See you later." " See ya." "Right, what colour do you think we should paint the front room, Owen," " Sunny Peach..." " Yeah, nice." " ... or Autumn Rain?" " Nice." "Can I have a sandwich, please, Mum?" " I'm still a bit hungry." " You are like a bottomless pit!" " Come on, please." " Honest to God!" " Get in that kitchen and do it yourself." " Just for me?" "Sandwich!" "Hello, I'm Tony, one of Rhys's coaches." " I live around the corner." " I was just taking him to pay his subs." "No." "I've just had a call from Steve Geoghegan." "He's asked me to come pick you up." "There's been a thing happened with Rhys." " What's happened?" " Well..." "Well, they're saying..." "They're saying he's been shot." "Shot?" "It happened in the pub car park, that's all I know." "Owen, just stay here!" "Is he badly hurt?" " I don't know." " Have they called an ambulance?" "I think so." " Mel?" " Steve?" "You've got to come home right away." " What's the matter?" " Rhys has been shot." " What do you mean, shot?" " They're saying he's been shot." " My battery's nearly gone." " What?" "My battery's nearly gone." "I'm heading there now." "He's been missing around with an air rifle?" "He's gone." "They said somebody started shooting, and Rhys had been hit." "Shot to the... shot to the neck." "It's Sean!" "It's Sean!" "There she is, here's his mum." " Rhys?" " It's OK, mate." "Come on, Rhys." "Hold on, love." "Hold on now." "I offered to take him home, but he wanted to walk." "The ambulance is coming, it'll be here any minute." "Come on, Rhys, come on." "Hold on, Rhys." "The kid was shooting at the lads on the bikes." "Stay here with me, all right?" "You be brave for me, all right?" "You're OK." "We're ready." " Take it from the top." " This is Rhys." "He's an 11-year-old boy." "He's been shot in the neck." "We have an entry and exit wound." "We've been asystolic for the past 20 minutes." "He is cannulated in the right ACF with fluids running." "Blocks off, in immobilisation, and I want a primary survey." "Mel, you'll have to bear with me." "I just want to stay with him." " We're doing all we can." " No output, continue CPR." " OK, we're going to need to intubate." " Get ready." "Let's get some R-negative blood, six units." " Is the airway secure?" " Now it's secure." "I want a rhythm check." " No pulse." " Kay on CPR." "Can we get some adrenalin, please?" "Adrenalin in." " How's that wound looking?" " A lot of bleeding from the back." "By the front, there's a wound anterior midline." "Still bleeding but there's pressure on it." " Can you see the wound at the back?" " No." "Dress that soon." "Have you got a summary of the primary survey?" "We've got an 11-year-old with penetrating neck trauma and asystolic arrest." "Down time is 20 minutes." "We're intubated." " I just need to..." " Your husband is outside." "Can he come in here?" "One round of adrenaline so far." " Let's get ready for a second." " I'll be back in a minute, Rhys." "Just this way." " I went to the wrong hospital." " He's been shot." "What?" "With a pellet gun?" "No, proper gun." "He's been shot in the neck, he's in there." " How bad is he?" " Bad." "What are they saying?" "I don't know, something about trying to revive him." "Shot?" "What's all this about?" "We couldn't let your first week pass without celebrating!" "Detective Superintendent!" "How does it feel?" " It's only acting!" " Cheers!" "Cheers!" "Considering I never thought I'd make it past constable." "There's people dying of hunger here!" "The game starts in half an hour." "Where's your muscleman, Dad?" "Can't do a barbie without your muscleman." "All right, I'll get my muscleman on!" "Let's get stuck in in the meantime." "Hello, Mark." "You're joking, 11?" "It's Dad here, Rhys." "It's Dad here, Rhys." "Blood's nearly finished." "How long for that blood?" "More blood on the way." " Come on, Rhys." " Come on, mate." "Come on, Rhys." " Keep talking to him." " Come on, Rhys!" " Get that circulation back." " OK." "We're here." "We're here, Rhys." "Were they using him as some sort of mule?" "How the fuck does this happen, eh, Mark, to an 11-year-old boy in broad daylight?" "Who's there now?" " Stay, Rhys." " Just keep fighting." "It's been 90 minutes down time and no return of circulation." "We need to think about stopping." "Stay with us." " Everything's going to be all right." " You'll be fine." "I think that, on the next rhythm check, we should stop, if everyone's in agreement." "Two minutes now, everyone." "No pulse." "Mel, Steve  we've done everything we can." "We can't get him back." "I think we need to let him go." "Thank you very much for everything you've done." "I'm so sorry." "Mel?" "I brought this for him." "You'll need to go in and check with them, because they've just told me he's died, and he can't have." "So could you check?" "Auntie Mel, they know what they're talking about." " No, no, no." "Check, please." " Mel, Mel?" "Go and check for me." "He's..." "Steve?" "What am I going to do?" "Steve?" " Dave." " Ma'am." "What's the latest?" "We heard the little lad didn't make it?" "Beyond that, you probably know as much as me." " Well..." " Who's the SIO?" "Hasn't been appointed yet." "Sorry." "Excuse me." " Dave Kelly." " This is Pauline from the control room." "An officer stopped two males on pedal cycles half a mile from the scene fitting the description" " of the person believed to be the offender." " All right." "The officer isn't happy with their accounts of their movements." "As duty officer, what do you advice?" "If he's not happy and he has reasonable grounds," " he should arrest them." " OK." "I'll let him know." "It's not rocket science!" " Sorry about that, ma'am." " What was that?" "A couple of suspects fitting the description of the shooter." " They've been arrested?" " They have now." "Great, keep me informed." " Will do." " Just the sort of news we need tonight." "Thank you." "All right, Jackie?" "What have you got?" "Shooter arrives over there on a silver mountain bike, fires three or four shots." "One hits a lad we've now identified as Rhys Jones, 11 years old, on his way home from football training from those pitches there." " Footie training?" " Yeah." "Any CCTV from the pub?" "Cameras all round, but whether the system is working..." "We're checking it out now." "OK." "Have a word with them coppers" " and get them to move them photographers." " All right, yeah." " I'll get on it." " Thank you." "Can I have a look at that, please, lads?" "There you are, number 23." "You want me to wait and return, yeah?" "Yeah, please." "No doing a runner, do you hear?" " I know where you live." " 'Course not." "Hello?" "I'm outside now." " All right?" " All right, Jordan?" "There's another one, Claire." "Bloody hell, it's like Lime Street station here tonight." "Here you are." "Here." "Take this to yours and hide it away somewhere, OK?" "Don't look inside it and don't fuck about." "Go straight home." "I need some money for the cab, Sean." "I'm sorry." "There you go." "Keep the change." "Jordan!" "You boys all right?" " Do you lads want anything?" " No, Mum." "No, we're all right, Claire." " Youse not watching the footie?" " No, we're going out in a minute." "OK." "Dixie, what do we know about the family?" "We've had calls saying that the older brother, Owen, is involved in one of the main Croxteth gangs, the Crocky Crew, and that this is some sort of revenge shooting by a rival gang." "There have already been two promising arrests tonight, so hopefully, this investigation won't drag on, but there will be a lot of fear on the streets, so we need to move quickly and calmly." "Dave, you are appointed SIO." "And this will be a Cat-A+ murder." "Yes, ma'am." "Any questions?" "Good." "Thank you." "A Cat A+!" "You don't get too many of those in your career, David." "There are more senior fellas she could have given it to." " Strictly speaking, it wasn't my turn." " Don't knock it." "Those two lads we arrested, they've been interviewed now." "We've taken swabs for gunshot residue and we'll do a full intel and background first thing tomorrow." "Slow down!" "It'll all be over before I get my medal." "You're all right, John." "We was at a barbie at ours." "About nine o'clock, me and my mate went out to get more ale for my ma." "How many people were at the barbie?" "I don't know, 20, 30." "It's my ma's birthday." "What time did it start?" "About half six." "Anything on him and his mate?" "No." "As far as we can tell, they've never been in trouble." "Bail him." " You sure?" " Yeah." "There'll be 20 witnesses putting him at the barbie." "All right." "Get rid of them." "Yeah." " Mark?" " Yeah?" "Anything on the victim's older brother," " is he connected to any gang?" " No." "No, nothing." "We checked." "There's no way this little lad's involved in anything here, an 11-year-old kid, playing footie with his mates?" "No, there's no chance." "We can go back and see him first thing." "Steve?" "It's his blood." "I've got to get it off." "I've got to get it off, Steve." " I've got to get it off!" " Owen, give us a minute." " Steve, this is Rhys's blood." " Let me help." "It's all right." "Please, get it off." "Please help me." "I've got it for you." "Help me, Steve!" "Just hold on a minute." "I've got it, I've got it." " Lift your arms." " Please." "OK?" "Here, lift up your arms." "All right, love." "Just get them off!" "It's all right." "_" "DC Jones, Incident Room." "This young lad who's been shot, the fella you're looking for is Sean Mercer." " He's the one you want." " Can I ask who's calling?" "Never mind about that." "Sean Mercer, that's the one who did it." "Mercer shot him, and Yatesy got him the gun he used." "Got that?" "Yatesy?" "Is that a surname?" "Nathan Quinn was there too." "Them Norris Green lads shouldn't have been in Croxteth, hanging round the Fir Tree." "They were asking for it." "That's why Mercer was shooting at them." "Rhys." "Rhys." "You've released the suspects arrested last night?" "That's correct." " I felt there was no point detaining them." " Why?" "The information we're getting is that it was gangs, and those lads were nothing to do with that world." "Did you consult with the CPS before releasing them?" "No." "Why not?" "I didn't want to embarrass myself." "I thought they were good suspects." "Not in my opinion." "There was no point whatsoever in detaining them." "Well, the Chief isn't going to like this." "I'd told him we were hopeful of developments." "In future, can I be informed of decisions like this in advance?" "Yes." "That was Tony, one of the porters." "He did the..." "He heard that Rhys was an Everton fan." "It's just like his bed at home." "That's very kind of him." "Please thank him for us." "Can we..." "Can we go in and see him, please?" "It's just..." "I can't bear him being on his own in there." "but I must remind you that your son's body needs to be preserved as evidence." "Mrs Jones, I'm going to have to ask you not to touch him." "Who would want to shoot a little boy?" "I can't handle this." "It's all right, son, go outside." "We'll be out in a minute." "Mrs Jones, please." "Mrs Jones?" "If you touch him again, I'm going to have to arrest you." " What are you talking about, arrest me?" " It's all right." "He's my son!" "You can't tell me not to touch him." "I'm sorry, but we have to preserve the evidence." "I understand." "We can't touch him." "They have their job to do." "It's OK." "Happened in broad daylight, over at the Fir Tree." "Terrible, isn't it?" "They said on the radio they think it's gangs." "I'm worried to let the kids out to play." "Eleven years old, just shot in the street." "Are the boys excited for the holiday?" "You're going to be all right on your own," " aren't you?" " Don't worry." "Stay with your Auntie Jean, it'll make a nice break." "Kev?" "I'm going up Clayton Square to get stuff for the holiday." " You want to come?" " I'll go." "No, thanks." "You've got to get proper gear for Florida." "She's taking youse away." "Go down the shops with her." "Will you leave it?" "I don't want to go out!" "Wound to the front neck, right-hand side." "Lower notch consistent with an entry wound." "Barbara, could you just roll that way?" "Right." "Then we have a much larger wound consistent with an exit wound to the left rear shoulder." "Tissue fragments protruding, large in size, surrounded by bruising." "All right, Ned?" "No, it's all right, I'll do this on my own." "Steve?" "Dave Kelly." "I hope you was expecting me." "Pleased to meet you." "This is Owen." " All right, Owen?" " Nice to meet you." " And Mel." " How are you, love?" "Would you like some tea?" "No, thank you." "You're all right, Steve." "Please call me Dave, or Ned, if you prefer." "Ned Kelly was a robber in Australia." "My mouth keeps going dry all the time." "To the point where I can hardly swallow." "I wanted to come round so you could put a face to the fella who's leading the investigation." "There's not going to be too much I can tell you as we go, partly for operational reasons, but also because I don't think it's fair on you, going through every bump in the road with me." "We'd prefer that, just... knowing something when you think we should be told." "The Chief Constable has designated this a Category-A+ murder, which means it'll be given maximum priority and resources." "Do you have any idea who did it?" "I don't, not yet." "But we've lots of witnesses, and there's information and names coming in from the public all the time." "Please help us." "Please." "I'll do my utmost to get whoever did this." "and anyone else who's helped them." "I promise you that." "Thank you." "Morning, everyone." "All right?" "All right?" "I've asked for your desks to be turned round so they're facing each other, not just cos you're all so good-looking, especially young Danny Jones there." "All right, Danny?" "Boss, you all right?" "Did your mum dress you this morning?" " No." " No?" "I can't think why else you'd be wearing that tie." "The leccy had gone." "Now seriously, it's because it's not me who's going to be solving this, you are, and you need to be talking to each other." "A lot of people will give you a lot of information during this investigation, most of it untrue." "You'll know they're lying cos their lips will be moving." "Remember, A, B, C... accept nothing, believe nobody, challenge everything." "There's already a lot of talk about the reputation of this force being on the line." "You can forget about that." "There's three people we're doing this for:" "Mel and Steve Jones, Rhys's mum and dad, and Owen, his brother." "And him." "Keep them at the forefront of your minds at all times, the family." " Yeah?" " Yes." "All right, let's get cracking." " Deano?" " Your ma in?" "No, she's at work." " Where have you put it?" " What?" "You know what I'm talking about." "You think I don't know what's happening?" "It was me who told Sean all about you." "What did you do that for?" "I've been shitting myself." "I keep thinking bizzies are going to knock." "Why me?" "You're a good little boy, never been in trouble." "No-one's going to come knocking round your door, are they?" "Where've you put it, Kev?" "All right, Matt, what have you got?" "CCTV from the pub." "This is Camera 11, the rear of the Fir Tree pub." "Lad in black clothing, riding a silver-coloured bike." "Can't see his face, the make of the bike." "The quality is shite!" "Come on!" "It does look like a mountain bike." "This has been confirmed by witnesses." "He's heading out to the front of the pub." "We pick him up on Camera 1." "This is where the three shots were fired." "I hope we've got eye witnesses, cos that could be Elvis fucking Presley on that bike." "Camera 2 shows us what we think he was firing at." "It's these two lads on bikes here." "The first shot's fired, they obviously hear it hit and try to cycle away." "The second shot, that's the one that hits Rhys  spinning him round." "The two lads on the bikes, that's Brown and Griffin." "There is another lad, Brady, out of shot, talking to a girl." "They're all Norris Green, strayed onto Croxteth territory?" "Crocky Crew versus Nogga Dogz." "Possible names for the gunman:" "Sean Mercer, Marvis Perry, Nathan Quinn." "Possible names for the gun supplier, there's a lot of people saying James Yates or Yatesy." " The tip-offs are anonymous?" " No-one's put their hand up." "Well, that's a starter for ten." "Let's lift them tomorrow, see what they've got to say for themselves." "Shit hiding place, that." "Youse haven't even got a dog no more." "I couldn't think of where else to put it, could I?" "How long is it going to be up there?" "Only a couple of weeks, till it all dies down." "Don't go poking round up there neither, all right?" "Don't breathe a fucking word about this to anyone, understand?" " Yeah." " Yeah?" "Yeah." "The first raft of arrests are being made?" "Yeah, tomorrow morning." "How soon after that can we expect charges?" "I don't know." " What do you mean?" " It is what it is." "They'll probably go no-comment, so unless we can link anyone to the murder, we're no better off than we are now." "I've asked for audio probes to be inserted into the suspects' houses." "So far we've got clearance on Yates." "You need to understand, we're under pressure." "The Chief took a call from the Prime Minister." "The Prime Minister's got nothing to do with me." " I beg your pardon?" " I can't help him and he can't help me." "I don't know what you thought you were getting" " when you appointed me SIO." " Speed." "I thought, with your experience, we'd resolve this quickly." "The name of the murderer is common currency, Sean Mercer." "A name's a name." "There's a big difference between intelligence and evidence." "I can be quick but only if I've got evidence, and at the moment, we have no evidence." "So are we done here?" "Thank you." "Armed police!" "Hands in the air." "Police!" "Show me your hands now!" "Down on your knees." "Get down on your knees now!" "Do it now!" "Sure, are you?" "I just paid for that, you know." "James didn't come home last night." "I've no idea where he is." "But he's done fuck all." "You've got the wrong kid." "Out you go, Mrs Yates." "My client, James Yates, wishes to place on record that after hearing his home address was raided this morning, he's come of his own volition to help with enquiries." "If I could start by asking you to confirm your name for the tape." "No comment." "Dean Kelly accompanied by his mother Paula Kelly." "No comment." "Nathan Quinn accompanied by his mother Marie Thompson." "No comment." "Also present because of his age is his mother." " Please confirm your presence for the tape." " Jeanette Mercer." "Sean is submitting a prepared statement which details his movements on the afternoon and evening of 22nd August." "He won't be answering further questions." "We're still going to put some questions to Sean." "I'll start by asking, do you own a bike?" "Does he have to answer?" " We're just asking about his bike." " You've seen it at the house." "It's black with orange and white." " Do you own other bikes?" " No, he doesn't," " just that one." " Why are you tapping your son's leg?" "I'm not happy with him answering these questions." "Yeah, no comment." "None of the witnesses positively identified him." "We're almost out of time." "We've got nothing." "Bail them, let's see where they lead us." "This is going to go down like a lead balloon, isn't it?" "I don't think I can do this." "I feel sick." "Yes, you can." "It's going to help with the appeal for witnesses." " Right?" " You all right?" "Yeah." "Come on, you two." "We've got a plane to catch." "Are you excited?" " We're going to Universal?" " We're going to all the parks." "We are joined by Rhys's mum and dad, Melanie and Steve, and his brother Owen." "Rhys's family requested we remember their beloved son, not by the traditional minute's silence but by applause." "On the referee's whistle, can you pay tribute to a young boy who loved life and loved Everton Football Club?" "Have a feed up, son." "You'll feel better." "What sort of things did they ask you?" "I just went no-comment." "I even went no-comment to my name." "That's it, "no comment"." "Say nothing and you're in the clear." "You've got nothing to worry about." "They've got nothing on you." "How could they?" "And who's going to say anything?" "Nobody will dare say anything." "Anyone opens their mouth, it will be very unhealthy for them." "Everyone knows that." "You just listen to your dad." "You'll be fine."