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.”

Comments

Nick Rudd (17/12/2008 11:15:03)
Trinity Mirror please note: that is what real newspapers are all about. When the Echo is printing at Oldham or, even worse, if and when merged with the Daily Post as a morning paper, just think: an opportunity such as this will be lost forever.

Happy Wednesdays (17/12/2008 13:54:54)
“We don’t want to be too self-congratulatory” – Well don’t be then.

Hackette (17/12/2008 19:46:12)
What a pointless, sneery comment from Happy Wednesdays on what is, essentially, a positive story about print for once. Why do journalists always enjoy sniping at others success so much?

Hack (18/12/2008 13:52:07)
The sad thing is the print figure – 4,500 – so even if all copie sold you’re talking about revenue of about £1,200 after retail is paid etc. After print costs they probably made about £500 profit.
I’m sure Trinity Mirror’s bean counters will sacrifice that for the millions saved by moving to Manchester and sacking huge numbers of the staff. And when the papers merge and print overnight, it’s cheerio all the van drivers too – happy days. More millions saved.
They know their only viable competition could come from News International with their big press site in Knowsley and they can hardly launch a rival title with their bad name in the area.

Peter Kelly (19/12/2008 15:19:41)
Its all well and good getting the story in time for the edition, but your back ground was so poor. Mind you, you did have only 18 months to work on it, so i guess a police hand out picture and “unnamed” source is the best you could come up with. Thankfully other, bigger papers were on hand to tell me about the beauty queen, family member hanged for murder, girlfriend standing by accused, unusual occupation of accused mother…. shall i go on?

Clayton Square (19/12/2008 22:02:13)
THe Echo used to have a late edition, 3.30 if I imagine, this was sacrificed and it became a morning paper. Maybe now they will realise they can save circualtion and sell papers with late stories on a late edition for commuters and the majority of people who still by the paper to read in the evening. When oh when will they wake up and realise what newspapers are all about and how they are different from websites!

Happy Wednesdays (20/12/2008 10:26:08)
Get over yourself, Hackette.
What this whole piece of Trinity puffery says is “Newspaper Covers Big Local Story SHOCKER”
It would be a p*ss-poor turn of events if the LIVERPOOL Echo didn’t manage to report the LIVERPOOL jury’s verdict, do you not think?