the gangster who supplied the murder weapon which killed rhys jones has attempted to return to the area where the late boy’s family live, it was claimed today james yates, who provided the first world war smith & wesson revolver used to kill the 11 year old child, cannot enter the croxteth park neighbourhood of liverpool where the murder took place but the 27 year old applied for his exclusion zone to be temporarily lifted so he could visit a relative   meaning he could have been in the area where rhys’s parents steve and melanie jones still live gangster: james yates (left), who provided the first world war smith & wesson revolver used to kill rhys jones (right), cannot enter the croxteth park neighbourhood of liverpool where the murder took place  mrs jones, 49, said it was ‘awful’ to learn of his application in a letter last saturday   the day before mother’s day, which she described as an ‘emotional occasion’ ‘i’m so upset,’ she said ‘i’ve barely got words to describe how angry i am i had to come home from work as it was so emotional ‘how can they be allowed to apply for dropping the exclusion zone? this is the third time this has happened now the whole system is a farce’ the probation service said yates would be dropped off by his father francis   who was jailed for more than four years for trying to cover up the murder   and later picked up on an agreed route however, the ministry of justice was said to have revealed yesterday that yates's request had been denied reacting to this decision, mrs jones said: ‘at last, common sense prevails’ but she added the continual and brazen appeals by the gang members to enter their neighbourhood were emotionally draining and unfair yates was released last april   leaving just one of the seven strong gang in prison rhys was shot by sean mercer, 16, aided by six others, on his way home from football practice in 2007 shooting location: rhys died on august 22, 2007, outside the fir tree pub in croxteth park yates applied for his exclusion zone to be temporarily lifted so he could visit a relative  after yates walked free it meant only mercer, who was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years, was left behind bars after seven people were convicted over their involvement in the horrific crime following his release, mrs jones called yates the ‘most evil of them all’ nathan quinn, dean kelly, gary kays, melvin coy and a 16 year old who cannot be named have all served sentences grief: if yates had been successful in his bid, he could have been in the area where rhys’s parents steve and melanie jones (pictured) still live  yates was 21 when he was jailed for just seven years for supplying the gun used to kill rhys and helping mercer cover his tracks he and two other members of the croxteth crew   quinn, 18, and kelly, 17   winked, smiled, smirked and cheered in the dock as they were handed sentences blasted as 'disgusting' by rhys's family the trial judge, mr justice irwin, told yates: 'there is strong evidence you were an active gang member i have no doubt you were a willing assistant helping in any way you could' yates' term was later increased to 12 years by the lord chief justice, who attacked the 'modern pestilence' of gun crime but because yates spent almost a year in prison awaiting trial, that time counted towards his final sentence that means he spent just over five years behind bars since being found guilty of assisting the schoolboy's murderer he was released on licence midway through his sentence, as is commonplace, and will be monitored outside prison for the remainder of the 12 years rhys died on august 22, 2007, when mercer, armed with a revolver, cycled to his estate to try to shoot members of the rival strand gang rhys was struck by his second bullet the 'wall of silence' faced by police meant that while mercer's name swiftly emerged as the prime suspect in the shooting outside the fir tree pub, months of painstaking detective work was required to charge him with murder the gun itself, a 455 calibre smith and wesson revolver with a six inch barrel, may have been handed down through generations of liverpool criminals it was made during the first world war in about 1915, but remained in good working order the rifling in the barrel was worn and the bullets fired by mercer were slightly undersized, causing them to tumble end over end that meant the round which hit rhys was side on when it struck him in the back of the neck, splintering vertebrae and destroying his windpipe before exiting through his throat the croxeth crew also had an imitation walther ppk converted to fire live rounds, a british army webley revolver and a russian 762 handgun
27 year old liverpool yesterday jones steve croxteth park 2007 melanie jones james yates moj rhys smith & wesson
james yates provided smith & wesson revolver used to kill boy in 2007  banned from entering croxteth park, liverpool, where murder took place  but he applied for exclusion zone to be temporarily lifted to visit a relative  this is the area where rhys's parents steve and melanie jones still live  mrs jones said she was 'so upset' and cannot 'describe how angry i am' but moj revealed yesterday request from 27 year old yates was denied 