The Liverpool Echo held off the presses for a 4,500-copy special edition run yesterday which included all the news from the Rhys Jones trial.

Nearly all the verdicts from the murder trial of 11-year-old Rhys were actually handed down on Monday but, with some still outstanding, the media was gagged until yesterday afternoon.

The second edition of the Echo was able to carry the guilty verdict of 18-year-old Sean Mercer but it was looking increasingly unlikely that any other details would be forthcoming before the mid-afternoon deadline.

Echo executive editor Andrew Campbell said: "We were waiting for the sentencing but it was quite delayed.

"We were hoping to print by 3.30pm and were about to hit the presses when the verdict came in.

"It meant we were able to splash the '22 years', carry the verdict and the reaction of Rhys' parents outside court.

"It was touch and go as it all took longer than expected."

The special late edition was on sale in Liverpool city centre and around Croxteth where Rhys lived.

The late edition capped off what had been an extremely busy 24 hours for the north-west newspaper team.

The Echo had prepared front and inside pages for Monday's edition only to be handed the gagging order by the judge until all verdicts had been decided by the jury, rendering the pages unusable.

Yesterday's Liverpool Echo front page delivers the dramatic verdict

As yesterday developed, it was becoming increasingly unclear whether anything could be reported before all of the print deadlines passed.

But then the jury came back with the final outstanding verdict before the lunch recess, so Mercer's guilty conviction – passed on Monday – could be splashed in the second edition (see above) with the presses already running slow.

The in-court reporter Ben Rossington was also able to blog the verdict from Liverpool Crown Court using CoverIt Live.

Today's edition of the Echo will be carrying news and backgrounders on the first 11 pages with the first and second editions both hitting the presses two-and-a-half hours early.

Andrew added: "We don't want to be too self-congratulatory considering the nature of the case, but it's been a fantastic effort.

"It's fair to say there's been an enormous interest from our readers but, in these tragic circumstances, we've tried to provide the best possible reporting and strived to be first with the news throughout."