A gunman opened fire in the street to make his rivals "think twice about crossing his path", a trial was told.
Rio Jones chased a man through the streets of Toxteth on an electric bike and shot him, having previously been targeted in a series of attacks after a murder led to a group of former friends turning on each other. The 19-year-old fired six times, with one of his bullets having struck an innocent schoolgirl in the neck as she waited for a bus home.
He is currently standing trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of attempting to murder the target, who cannot be named for legal reasons and will instead be referred to by the ECHO as Male A. Stanley Reiz KC told the jury in his closing speech on behalf of Jones this afternoon, Wednesday, that his client had not attempted to kill the 20-year-old and was instead intent on scaring his assailants off.
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The defence barrister said: "It must be difficult to understand how someone can think it can be justified to fire a gun in a public place, and he will be deservedly punished for committing that serious offence. The issue is whether the prosecution have made you sure he was intent on doing something even more sinister, to kill Male A or cause him really serious bodily harm.
"It only took Rio Jones a couple of seconds to fire those six shots. The central issue is whether the prosecution have made you sure about what he was thinking at that precise moment."
Mr Reiz admitted that Jones had changed his clothing and ditched his bicycle at a friend's house after the shooting on Upper Warwick Street in the early evening of March 1 this year with the aim of hampering the police's investigation. But he said that this fact "does not assist in deciding which criminal offence he committed", adding that it was "unsurprising he had remained silent" under interview after his arrest as he was "scared of the consequences".
The teenager did not admit he was the gunman until days before his trial due to begin But the defence counsel said: "You can safely conclude he lied because he didn't want to admit he had committed a serious crime. That doesn't prove which serious crime he committed.
"Mr Jones had a moment of reflection. He could have maintained the lie and given evidence before you saying it wasn't him - he didn't do that.
"He chose not to maintain the lie. Instead, he pleaded guilty to that serious firearms offence and admitted what he had done.
"He must have known the inevitable consequences of making that admission, but nevertheless he did so. The initial reaction of a young man facing serious charges, you may think, is not surprising."
Jurors heard earlier this week that Jones and Male A had previously been part of the same large friendship circle, but this fractured into two after one member was murdered in 2017. Since then, the defendant had been on the end of a spate of incidents which he believed the opposite group - of which the other man was part - was responsible for.
This included an arson attack at his house on Jermyn Street, shots being fired at the windows of this family home, a firearm being discharged at him and his associates as they were chased by a gunman on a bike and the teen being stabbed. Mr Reiz said: "There was a campaign against Rio Jones and his family, carried out by people he believed to be members of a group he used to associate with.
"The offences included low level criminal damage to his mother's car, but also the shooting through his front window and the discharge of a gun when he was being chased. On neither occasion was anyone actually hit.
"While the discharges undoubtedly created fear, they did not cause physical harm. The manner he was being targeted indeed was the motive for what he did.
"He had custody of that firearm for a relatively short period, not very long to decide what he was going to do with it. It just so happened, minutes later, he encountered Male A.
"The meeting was a chance meeting. What Mr Jones tells you is he chased after the biker because he didn't know who he was.
"He also was intent on finding someone from that group and chasing them back as they had chased him. He decided to pull alongside the person he realised was Male A.
"If his intention was to kill or seriously injure, there was no need to do that. He could have just shot that person in the back."
Mr Reiz said Jones had fired his shots in front of Male A and only hit him in the wrist accidentally. He added: "All of those six shots were fired in about six seconds.
"It was very quick. There was no thinking time between those shots.
"Mr Jones did not intend to fire at Girl A. She was a wholly innocent bystander who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"His focus was on Male A throughout. If he was intending to kill him or cause him really serious harm, why did he only hit him once?
"They were, at one stage, very close together. Only one shot out of six hit him.
"That didn't strike him to the head or chest, but to the forearm. No-one trying to kill would aim for that part of the body.
"He had both his hands on handlebar of the bike. That injury is consistent with Rio Jones' case - that he shot directly in front of Male A, but one of those shots was a bit too close to the front of the bike and made contact with the part of his body that was furthest forward."
Concluding his statement, Mr Reiz admitted that Jones' actions had been "appalling". But he told the jury that "no-one needed to die or get seriously hurt to prove his point".
The KC said: "He accepts that his conduct endangered Male A and others at the scene, including Girl A. He is responsible for their injuries, but that is not the same as intending to kill or cause serious harm.
"What he did was undoubtedly wrong and unlawful, but there is a difference between someone prepared to threaten someone by firing a gun near him and using it to try to kill or cause really serious injury. Rio Jones fired that gun not once, not twice, not three times, but five times without hitting Male A at all.
"The shot he did hit with hit his wrist. Might it be the case because he wasn't intending to hit him in the first place?
"He said he had been chased by members of that group and he wanted them to stop targeting him. If Male A's associates believed Mr Jones carried not just a gun but a loaded a gun, in the future they might have thought twice about crossing his path.
"No-one needed to die or get seriously hurt to prove that point. All they had to know is there may be a risk to them if they persisted with that behaviour.
"As dangerous and irresponsible and criminal as Rio Jones' conduct was on March 1, on the evidence before you, you can't be sure he intended to kill or serious injure. If that might be right, whatever you might think of him or his appalling behaviour, he is not guilty."
Jones denies attempted murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, but admits possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. The trial continues, with the jury having now retired to consider its verdicts.
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