Shock over shot boy never fades
MORE than a decade on from the murder of schoolboy Rhys Jones the case isn’t any less shocking or distressing. accomplice, known as Boy M – vulnerable and terrified of recriminations – was heard putting pressure on his grandmother to change her statement. “I can’t, I’ve signed it,” she yelled.
Another suspect was heard taunting: “What can they prove then? Nothing.”
As former Detective Superintendent Dave Kelly, the senior investigating officer, was interviewed, he looked weary and emotional. It was sad to see him so tormented all these years later.
He recalled: “People were expecting the case to be solved from day one and I knew we didn’t have a jot of evidence.”
Welling up, he said: “I met Mel and Steve, their world had been wrecked. I knew we had to get people brought to justice for them.”
The heartbreaking interviews with Mel and Steve sent a chill down my spine.
Mel recalled the moment she heard her son had been shot: “I just ran over to him and put my arms under his head. I was talking to him, saying, ‘Stay with me,’ but there was no response. He was just lying there in a huge pool of blood.”
Later she told how their TV appeals were “a total blur” and marvelled at the nation’s reaction.
It was impossible not to shed a tear as Mel said: “I just wanted a quiet little funeral but the family liaison officer said the crowds need to be managed.
“I thought, ‘What crowds?’. There were thousands of people. I thought, ‘They’ve all come out for my little boy’.”
Killer Sean Mercer and his accomplices were finally brought to justice.
But we knew little of how it took thousands of hours of detective work and sheer determination. Det Supt Kelly was asked: “Do you feel proud?” “Very proud,” he said. “I can look Mel and Steve in the eye and say I did what I promised to do.”
This was a poignant account of courage, community and resolve in the face of a tragedy we’ll never forget. ”IT’S going to be hard, it’s Tureet, going ing to b be dirty, there’s going sum to quipit ea be tears,” said ing co-host commy nos at, quis alit nim Gareth Wyn aliquamet, doluptat, Jones (left) in the latest reality show corem verosti ncincilit dolore te to hit our screens. cr een No, not Love Island mincidunt veros digna lobor acilit (you’ll ou ’ll be relieve relieved to hear). praesenim This alit Bbcfaccumsandio ver was BBC2’S The Family Farm, conumsa aut which landiamet ich saw fa families mindionsequi learning the ropes accummo on Gareth’s North Wales erciduipit lorper farm. rm. Kate Hsum Humble, who I think dipsume quis acilisit ipit must be co contractually obliged to present every show that’s set in the countryside, told DISCOVERY of the week are was that squirrels Super superheroes. In BBC2’S on Tuesday, Powered Squirrels can survive any we learned they their enemies. climate and outwit remember the One species can nuts, another location of 9,000 of a can leap the equivalent bus human jumping two lengths. I ain’t seen nuttin’ like it. the families they were in for a treat. Depends how you define “treat”. Watching them manhandling sheep for shearing, herding sheep in the rain and learning to sell lambs to the abattoir... it’s a tough business. They all mucked in, but when dad Mark said: “I think we’re going to move here permanently,” his son Roman looked horrified. I don’t blame him. I’ll be tuning in on Monday to see if they can become, ahem, outstanding in their field.