The jail sentence handed to a gang member who armed the killer of schoolboy Rhys Jones has been extended to 12 years by the Court of Appeal. Skip related content
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Jail term extended for Rhys gang member
James Yates, now 21, was originally given a total of seven years detention at Liverpool Crown Court for possession of a prohibited firearm and assisting an offender.
The sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal for review by the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland QC.
At a hearing in London it has been agreed that the sentence imposed should have been longer. Yates, of Dodman Road, Croxteth, was in the dock for the decision.
Eleven-year-old Rhys was shot dead in August 2007 in a Liverpool pub car park as he made his way home from football training. His family were in the courtroom for the hearing.
The Lord Chief Justice, in announcing the increase in sentence, stressed that gun crime was a "modern pestilence" and that offenders faced severe, deterrent custodial terms.
Tributes have been paid to a schoolgirl who died after slipping in her high heels and falling under a train while waving goodbye to her friends.
