The parents of Rhys Jones came face to face with their son’s alleged killer in a packed courtroom in Liverpool city centre yesterday.

Melanie Jones, 42 — wearing a pendant bearing her son’s photograph — and her husband, Stephen, followed the proceedings carefully throughout the 17-year-old youth’s first court appearance.

The teenager, with shorn, dark hair and wearing a black hooded tracksuit over a grey sweatshirt, was among four juveniles and two adults appearing in the glass-fronted secure dock of Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on charges relating to the killing of Rhys, 11, last year. All are from the Croxteth area of the city.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, was brought up from the cells flanked by security guards. He was uncuffed before confirming, in a heavy Liverpudlian accent, his name, address and date of birth. He did not enter a plea. His mother, dressed smartly in a black trouser suit and black coat, sat in the well of the oak-pannelled Victorian courtroom beside her son’s solicitor.

A few yards to the defendant’s left, Mrs Jones dabbed her eyes with a tissue and clutched her husband’s arm.

David Maxwell, for the prosecution, told Richard Clancy, the district judge, that the youth was accused of murdering Rhys Jones, who was shot in the neck as he crossed the car park of the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth Park on August 2 on his way home from football practice.

Martin Saxon, the youth’s solicitor, did not oppose an application for him to be remanded in custody for a week, until his next appearance via video link at a youth court on April 25.

The judge told the youth, a slight figure sitting between the two guards, that it would usually be six weeks before he could expect to appear before a judge in the Crown Court, but he was trying to press on with the arrangements “as quickly as possible”.

Three other juveniles and two adults appeared after the youth. None entered a plea and there were no applications for bail.

A 16-year-old boy in a grey, hooded top was accused of assisting an offender between August 22 and 26 by providing a false alibi and hiding a weapon used in a shooting. He is also accused of possessing a Smith & Wesson .455 revolver, ammunition and a replica 8mm blank-firing pistol.

Another 16-year-old boy was accused of assisting an offender by disposing of clothing, a pedal cycle and a weapon. He was remanded to secure accommodation.

The fourth youth, aged 17, was accused of assisting an offender with the disposal of a gun and clothing.

The judge then convened an adult court and Melvyn Coy, 24, and Gary Kayes, 25, were brought up from the cells. Each was accused of disposing of evidence.

Last night another man, James Yates, 20, of Croxteth, was charged with assisting an offender. He will appear before the court today.

Earlier the accused arrived at the court in a convoy of four police vehicles and a prison van flanked by motorcycle outriders.

The district judge delivered several warnings in the direction of the press benches that reporting restrictions applied to the identification of the four juveniles. He also rebuffed several informal applications for an artist employed by ITN to draw representations of the officers of the court and its general ambience. He said: “We are at a very early stage in these proceedngs. We just want to ensure there is a fair trial for all concerned.”

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