Fans Praise First Episode Of Documentary About Rhys Jones’ Murder

In 2007, the UK was shocked when news broke about the horrific murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones. The young boy was crossing a pub carpark in Liverpool when a hooded teenager shot him in the back. The bullets were actually intended for a rival gang.

Eighteen-year-old Sean Mercer, who was a member of the Croxteth Crew gang, was charged and eventually sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder while several other members of his gang were punished.

The ITV documentary is a four-part series which takes viewers through the devastating moment Rhys was killed, how the family coped with the murder, the police investigation and eventually the court result.

Check out the trailer here:

Credit: ITV

The first episode premiered tonight and viewers were amazed:

Some praised the documentary for highlighting the culture of youth gangs in England.

The parents of Rhys Jones were very supportive of the project, telling the Sun: "We wanted to get involved in this drama because we thought it was important for people to understand what really happened.

"How close Rhys's murderer came to escaping justice, and how in the end the simple courage shown by some of those involved in these events, and their refusal to be intimidated, led to the conviction of Sean Mercer and others involved in Rhys's murder.

Flowers left at the scene of the murder in 2007. Credit: PA

"But beyond this we wanted to show the devastating effect the loss of our beloved son Rhys had on our family, and how the grieving process affected us long beyond the 'closure' of a guilty verdict."

Some of the cast met the people they were playing, including Sinead Keenan, Bryan O'Byrne and Stephen Graham, who play Rhys's mum, dad and Superintendent David Kelly respectively.

Sinead also told the Sun: "Brian and I went to Melanie and Steve's house and spent a couple of hours with them. They are lovely people caught up in something horrific. This is about somebody's life. About a family. So it is more than an acting job."

The next three episodes will be broadcast on ITV for the next three weeks.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie