EXCLUSIVEDad of Rhys Jones killer Sean Mercer was so disgusted with sons crime that he disowned him and turned into a recluse, family friend reveals

Champagne corks popping followed by chaotic group hugs were a common sight outside Britains prisons this week. 

But while beaming track-suited ex-cons celebrated Keir Starmers controversial early release scheme - one dangerous inmate, quite rightly, was not among them. 

The once baby-faced killer Sean Mercer faces another six years behind bars before he can even think of a parole bid.

Mercer was just 16 when he shocked the nation by gunning down Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones, 11.

Everton fan Rhys was on his way home from football practice when he was shot in the neck by Mercer, a member of Croxteth Crew gang.

A former friend of Sean Mercers father Joe McCormick (pictured) said the shame of his sons disgusting actions ruined him

Mercer (seen age 18) was just 16 when he shocked the nation by gunning down Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones, 11

Everton fan Rhys was on his way home from football practice when he was shot in the neck by Mercer, a member of Croxteth Crew gang

The thug opened fire at a group of rival gang members in broad daylight on a summers night in 2007 with one of the shots hitting Rhys by accident and the youngster bled to death in his mothers arms.

The courts later heard that Rhys was an innocent schoolboy caught up in a wretched gang war between gun toting thugs from Croxteth and Norris Green.

Mr Justice Irwin, who sentenced Mercer to a minimum term of 22 years, made it clear that the Croxteth teen was a coward not a soldier.

Justice Irwin said the gang culture which Mercer belonged to was devoid of any honour, respect or discipline.

In contrast Justice Irwin praised the dignity of the Jones family, who were forced to brave the worlds media and a gruelling trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

The horrific tragedy sent shockwaves across the nation is one of Liverpools most shocking crimes. 

Mercer now has around six years to serve before he is eligible for a parole hearing, which might result in his release.

However the parole panel will consider the many incidents which have blighted Mercers time behind bars.

In January 2009 he was involved in a fight with another prisoner at HMP Moorland in Doncaster, South Yorkshire Staff rushed in before either man was hurt.

In November 2009 it emerged that Mercer stabbed Jake Fahri, the North London thug who murdered former altar boy Jimmy Mizen.

Forensic officers at the scene outside outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth, Liverpool, where 11-year-old Rhys Jones died in his mothers arms

Former Croxteth Crew member Dean Stephen Kelly (pictured) helped murderer Sean Mercer cover up the horrific murder of the schoolboy by providing an alibi. Picture date: 2008

Melanie and Stephen Jones, parents of Rhys Jones, outside Liverpool Crown Court in 2008 when Mercer was found guilty of their sons murder and sentenced to a minimum of 22 years behind bars

The Everton football team were among the countless Merseyside locals to pay their respects to the youngster in 2007

Mercer and a second prisoner are said to have attacked Fahri in the exercise yard at Moorland. Mercer is said to have slashed Fahri with a shank, which is a type of homemade weapon used by prisoners to attack each other.

In 2020 it emerged that Mercer used an illegal mobile phone to initiate a relationship with a woman on the outside.

Images appeared showing a stocky Mercer grinning and wearing an expensive Ralph Lauren jumper.

He told the woman that he was in prison after he had accidentally hurt someone and wanted to be a dad in the future.

The woman who became friends with Mercer said that the killer felt he had been unfairly misrepresented by the media.

She said the killing eats him up and he thinks about it every day.

The woman, who later broke off the relationship, said that she did not like it when he was talking like a gangster.

Sources say Mercer considers himself a gangster but does not have respect of major crews in Liverpool who consider him a wannabe.

One man told MailOnline: So Sean was always a corner boy who wanted to be a gangster. He was wannabe.

Yes he sold a few bits from his mountain bike but that was it. He let those shots off to try and make a name for himself.

The truth is the gang members from Crocky [Croxteth] and Norris Green never had respect for him.

Today they just think he was a f****** idiot who brought it on top for everyone. He is a nobody and has no power base behind him in Liverpool.

Candles were lit for the 11-year-old by Evertonians at St Lukes Church 

Parents Stephen and Melanie seen reading messages of love and support, many of which were left by strangers

Mercer now has around six years before he is eligible for parole, but the parole panel will consider the many incidents which have blighted Mercers time behind bars including taking this photo on an illegal mobile phone in 2020

Mercer could also face opposition for gangs if he came back to the area when released.

Another Liverpool man who also knew Mercers family said: Sean is nothing in Liverpool. Nothing.

A former friend of Mercers father Joe McCormick said the shame of his sons disgusting actions ruined him.

He said: I remember his dad Joe told me how disgusted he was in Sean. He said he was a little s*** who deserved all he got.

That is what his dad said to me. Joe became a bit of a recluse after the shooting. The shame of it all kind of ruined him.

Mercers father, Joe McCormick, was played by former professional boxer Paul Smith in ITV drama Little Boy Blue.

In one scene Joe bumped into Rhyss father Steve Jones in the toilets at Liverpool Crown Court, and says what are we doing here lad.

After Rhys murder there were enough is enough type calls for Merseyside and other cities to reject the gang culture that had blighted suburbs such as Croxteth.

Merseyside Polices elite Matrix unit hounded those it suspected of being affiliated to gangs in the Norris Green and Croxteth area.

Suspects were quizzed on all aspects of their lives from drugs and guns to their television and driving licence. Quad bikes and scramblers were seized and in some instances children living in homes used by gangs were taken into care.

The aggressive tactics were thought to be a success but it later emerged that a new group of criminals revived the Croxteth Crew gang associated with Mercer and his cronies.

The new gang, known as the Croxteth Young Guns (CYG) , resumed the turf war that had contributed to the fatal shooting in August 2007.

Anthony Jewell, Mark Thomas and Barry Burke offered kids from broken homes a new type of family. There was cash for cold cans of beer and fast-food from the late night shops on Moss Way Parade.

In many ways Jewell, Thomas and Burke were more organised and dangerous than the previous generation of Crocky crew teen gangsters.

The CYG roared around the streets on scrambler bikes, often carrying guns in case they spotted rivals from Norris Green.

Jewell and Burke spent their days loafing around the Moss Way shops while their underlings carried out the dirty work, selling drugs and firebombing the homes of rivals.

Steve and Melanie Jones pictured in 2018, 10 years after their sons killer was brought to justice

Both Mercers mother Janette Mercer (left) and brother Joseph Mercer (right) have seen prison in the years since the killers conviction, for perverting the course of justice and drug dealing respectively

A new gang, Croxteth Young Guns (CYG), has since resumed the turf war that contributed to the 2007 killing, with gang members roaring around the streets on scrambler bikes, often carrying guns in case they spotted rivals from Norris Green

Liverpool Crown Court later heard the CYG had access to an arsenal of weapons including grenades. It also emerged the CYG had sinister links to notorious individuals higher up the citys criminal hierarchy.

Last year locals in Croxteth told of their dismay after three women and a child were shot dead on Merseyside. 

A woman who lived through the Rhys Jones ordeal said she felt all the promises made after the Rhys Jones shooting appeared to be hollow, following the deaths of Ashley Dale, Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Jackie Rutter and Elle Edwards in 2022.

Over recent years it has emerged that the new generation of Liverpool gangs have access to Skorpion machine pistols. Both Ashley Dale and Elle Edwards were shot dead by criminals armed with the automatic weapon.