14 November 2023 , 21:25
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A gang member who helped cover up the murder of Rhys Jones in Liverpool was found dead at a house.
Former Croxteth Crew member Dean Stephen Kelly, who was jailed in connection with the schoolboy's murder that shocked the nation, has died at the age of 31, reports the Liverpool Echo Kelly, of Majestic Close, Croxteth, helped Sean Mercer before and after he murdered 11-year-old Rhys Jones as he crossed a pub car park on his way home from football training in August 2007.
The 31-year-old gave Mercer an alibi, telling police they were watching a DVD together at the time of the murder. Kelly was one of eleven people, including Mercer's own mum Janette Mercer, who were jailed for Rhys' murder and the cover-up that followed.
Rhys Jones was just 11 when he was gunned down in 2007 (PA)He was sentenced to four years in prison in 2009 for assisting an offender and hiding the gun in his loft after the shooting. But he was back in custody less than a year later for breaching the terms of his parole.
Kelly was found dead at Station Road, in Springside, Irvine, Scotland on April 6 this year. An inquest into his death was held at Gerard Majella Courthouse on Friday, November 10, before senior coroner for Liverpool and Wirral, Andre Rebello.
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Sean Mercer was found guilty of murdering Rhys (PA Archive/Press Association Ima)The inquest concluded the 31-year-old died of a drug related death after being found with a range of different drugs including cocaine in his system. The medical cause of death was recorded as intoxication and coronary artery atheroma, otherwise known as coronary heart disease.
Kelly was jailed in 2009, aged 17, for four years in connection with 11-year-old Rhys' murder. He was charged and convicted with assisting an offender, two counts of possession of a firearm and one of possessing ammunition.
Judge Irwin told Kelly at the time of sentencing: “Clearly under instruction from Mercer you moved the murder weapon from the dog kennel and hid it in the loft. No doubt you knew all along what had gone on and leant your help with that knowledge.
View of the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth Park, Liverpool, where Rhys was shot (Daily Mirror)“By Sunday 26th (August), the killing was all over the estate and the country. In the middle of that outcry you moved the weapon. You are at significant risk of re-offending and causing harm to the public.”
He served just 15 months because of the time he had already spent on remand. He was back in custody less than a year later for breaching the terms of his parole and was sentenced to 30 days detention. But he failed to show at the hearing at Liverpool’s former Dale Street magistrates’ court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Kelly was listed on police computers as officially 'wanted' when he was caught speeding away from police in a stolen van. He tried to flee following a dangerous five-minute chase through Kirkby and Fazakerley during which he smashed into a couple’s car just seconds after their young daughter climbed into the back seat on her way home from school.
A smirking Kelly was jailed for 10 months after he admitted aggravated vehicle taking in 2013. In 2017 he was cleared alongside fellow Croxteth Crew member James Yates of any involvement in an alleged drug ring. Prosecutors dropped charges after no witnesses came forward to identify them.
Kelly was back in trouble with the police in 2019 when he was banned from part of Scotland. Detectives accused him of having links to "acts of violence and intimidation, including the use of weapons" and accused him of "county lines drug dealing."
He was given an interim Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) at the time which prohibited him from entering the local authority area of East Lothian, except for the purposes of court appearances and meeting legal advisors. But he was later handed a 12 month prison sentence for breaching the ASBO.
In November 2019, Kelly was convicted of dangerous driving in Inveresk, East Lothian, Scotland after he lost control of a stolen Volkswagen Polo in the village and crashed into a garden wall, causing thousands of pounds’ of damage.
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He was serving a 10 year driving ban at the time of the crash. Kelly was handed a eight month prison sentence to run concurrently with his sentence for breaching the ASBO.