Why did gang member's lawyer speak out over sentence criticism?
A DEFENCE lawyer has said Rhys Jones' parents are "misguided" for criticising the seven-year sentence given to his client.
Julian Linskill is James Yates' solicitor. Yates supplied the gun that killed 11-year-old Rhys to Sean Mercer.
As he also helped Mercer dispose of the weapon, he was convicted of assisting an offender as well as possession of a firearm.
Mr Linskill's point was that, while he understands the Jones family's grief, the judge got the sentence "spot on" and acted well within the guidelines.
But the story in today's Post has raised eyebrows in some quarters. Can you really criticise Mrs Jones, who held Rhys as he died, for saying the sentence given to a gangster is "disgraceful"?
I'm told Mr Linskill is considering courting more press attention and may have wanted to appear controversial.
I put that to him, and in reply, he told me: "I didn't start this. That's the first thing. It's my job to continue to defend my client to the best of my ability.
"It seems to me that when a sentence is described as disgusting, then the record needs to be set straight. That was my objective.
"If you've received a complaint from another lawyer, then I can only characterise that as professional jealousy."
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Ben Schofield
Ben Schofield is the Liverpool Daily Post's legal affairs reporter
It is typical of the legal world,they grow fat on legal aid,paid for by the victims parents and they have the impudence to make comments like this,i think the person in question should be banned from office.