Killer of schoolboy Rhys Jones, 11, ‘is being investigated over plot to smuggle dozens of illegal phones into jail cell’ and ‘paying thousands of pounds in bribes to prison officer’

• Sean Mercer, who killed Rhys Jones, 11, in 2007, is being questioned by police
• It is claimed Mercer was involved in a plot to smuggle illegal phones into prison
• It is alleged he organised for a prison officer to be paid to bring the contraband 
• The apparent corruption was revealed during a routine search of Mercer’s cell 

The man who killed 11-year-old schoolboy Rhys Jones is to be questioned by police over planning to smuggle illegal phones into prison.

Sean Mercer, 32, is claimed to have organised for a prison officer to be paid thousands of pounds to bring in the contraband.

The alleged corruption at HMP Gartree, Leicestershire, was revealed during a routine search of Mercer’s cell and he was put in segregation, The Sun reported.

The official involved was reported to have been arrested last week near Market Harborough.

A source reportedly said prison officers had come across a handset as they looked through Mercer’s cell and hailed the employees’ ‘great work’ for finding it as it got the ball rolling.

Sean Mercer, 32, is claimed to have organised for a prison officer to be thousands of pounds to bring in the contraband

According to reports the source added the ‘phone was interrogated and a number was found tracing back to a serving prison officer’ then police were called.

Reportedly, enquiries are focused on that particular officer at this moment in time and ‘questions are being asked’. 

MailOnline have contacted the Ministry of Justice for comment. 

Rhys was shot dead in 2007 while walking home from football practice in Croxteth, Liverpool. 

He was caught in the crossfire between two warring gangs – the Strand Gang and the Croxteth Crew.  

Mercer – who was 16 at the time of the shooting – was convicted of his murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 22 years. 

The bullet fired from the Smith and Wesson gun that was used had been intended for Mercer’s rival Wayne Brady.

Mercer’s accomplices were also sent to prison. Jason Yates was jailed for seven years aged 20 for supplying the Smith and Wesson pistol. 

He also helped Mercer to cover his tracks by washing him in petrol in the hope of destroying evidence.

In 2009, Yates was jailed for a further five years after his sentence was judged to have been unduly lenient. 

Nathan Quinn, then 18, was jailed for two years for helping Mercer to get rid of the murder weapon and his clothes. 

The other accomplices, Melvin Coy and Gary Kays, were sentenced to seven years each, whilst Dean Kelly was jailed for four years. 

The bullet fired from the Smith and Wesson gun that was used had been intended for Mercer’s rival Wayne Brady

When the gang were sentenced, Mr Justice Irwin branded them ‘selfish, shallow criminals, remarkable only by the danger you pose to others.’ 

Speaking last year, Rhys’s father Steve recounted the moment he heard the news that was told by Rhys’s mother Melanie that he had been shot: ‘I was on the M57 heading up towards Southport when Mel phoned saying that Rhys had been shot and I needed to go home,’ he said. 

‘She sounded distraught, absolutely in tears, you could hear in her voice.’ With Mel now at the scene, Rhys was rushed to hospital.’

He added: ‘Your mind just doesn’t want to take it in, doesn’t want to accept it.’ 

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