Film crews will be in Liverpool for a docudrama on the killing of Rhys Jones this weekend.
ITV will record scenes at Everton’s game with West Ham on Sunday as part of a four-part TV series which will focus on the 11-year-old’s murder in Croxteth and Sean Mercer’s subsequent conviction.
‘Little Boy Blue’ has been written by BAFTA award-winning screenwriter Jeff Pope and stars Sinead Keenan and Bryan F. O’Byrne as Rhys’ parents Melanie and Steve Jones.
Liverpool-born actor Stephen Graham will also feature as Merseyside Police investigator Dave Kelly, who led the case.
In the days following Rhys’ death in August 2007, Goodison Park officials offered their unconditional support to his bereaved parents Steve and Melanie.
Camera crews are preparing to re-enact the moment that Everton fans showed their respects to the family with a minute’s applause before their game with Blackburn.
Rhys’ parents have appealed to supporters to remain in their seats at half time during the game to allow filming to take place for the scenes in ‘Little Boy Blue’.
“We wanted to get involved in this drama because we thought it was important for people to understand what really happened,” they said in a statement.
“How close Rhys’s murderer came to escaping justice, and how in the end the simple courage shown by some of those involved in these events, and their refusal to be intimidated, led to the conviction of Sean Mercer and others involved in Rhys’s murder.
“The part Merseyside Police and especially Detective Superintendent Dave Kelly played in this cannot be over-estimated.
“But beyond this we wanted to show the devastating effect the loss of our beloved son Rhys had on our family, and how the grieving process affected us long beyond the ‘closure’ of a guilty verdict.
“Though some may find what happened to us shocking we think it is right to tell the whole story.”