James Yates who supplied the gun which killed Rhys Jones is living in fear after prison gangsters threatened to ‘iron him out’
THE criminal who supplied the gun which killed schoolboy Rhys Jones is a marked man inside after prison gangsters threatened to kill him.
James Yates, 29, gave murderer Sean Mercer the pistol which gunned down 11-year-old Rhys as he walked home in Liverpool in 2007.
Thug Yates also doused Mercer with petrol in a cowardly bid to destroy any evidence of gun powder on his pal’s body before trying to cut a deal with cops to save his own skin.
But after ITV’s Little Boy Blue dramatised his cowardly behaviour, gangsters in Forest Bank jail in Cheshire have branded him a “grass” and a “baby killer”, reports .
The ruthless mob from Salford, known as the A-Team have threatened to “iron out” Yates if he comes near their prison wing.
Yates, a former member of the Croxteth Crew gang, is back behind bars after breaching the terms of his release – after serving five years for his role in Rhys’ death.
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Speaking with the Daily Star Sunday, a source said: “He got chinned and everyone was shouting ‘grass’ and calling him a baby killer.
“Thing is he hasn’t got much protection in here.”
The source added: “He’s been told he’ll be cut up if they see him on the wing and ever since he’s been sh****** himself.”
Yates was was sent down for a maximum of twelve years for his crime in 2009.
Police sniffed out their lies after bugging their home in Croxteth, where they talked openly about the crime and their cover-up.
After being sent down, Yates requested “vulnerable prison” status and was taunted by fellow inmates.
In 2012 it was reported that Yates was being considered for day release after being moved to an open prison, and then in 2014 he was released just five years after being put behind bars.
In March, Yates and fellow gang member Dean Kelly were cleared of running a drug ring after witnesses refused to point the finger at them.
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