Police will interrogate the guy who murdered 11-year-old schoolboy Rhys Jones in relation to his plans to bring illicit phones into a jail.
A jail guard was allegedly paid hundreds of pounds by Sean Mercer, 32, to smuggle in the illegal goods.
According to The Sun, Mercer was placed in isolation after the suspected corruption at HMP Gartree, Leicestershire, was discovered during a regular check of his cell.
According to reports, the official involved was detained last week close to Market Harborough.
Prison guards apparently found a phone when searching Mercer’s cell, and they were praised for their “excellent job” for doing so since it started the investigation.
The insider also said that “the phone was questioned and a number was located tracing back to a serving jail official” before calling the police.
According to reports, inquiries are now concentrated on one specific officer, and “questions are being asked.”
For a response, MailOnline has been in touch with the Ministry of Justice.
In Croxteth, Liverpool, Rhys was fatally murdered in 2007 as he made his way home after a football practice.
He got caught in the crossfire between the Strand Gang and the Croxteth Crew, two rival gangs.
Mercer, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, was found guilty and given a life sentence with a minimum of 22 years in prison.
Wayne Brady, a competitor of Mercer’s, was the target of the bullet that was fired from the Smith & Wesson gun that was used.
The conspirators who helped Mercer were also imprisoned. Twenty-year-old Jason Yates received a seven-year sentence in prison for providing the Smith & Wesson handgun.
He also assisted Mercer in obscuring his tracks by dousing him in gasoline in an effort to obliterate any potential proof.
Yates was sentenced to an additional five years in prison in 2009 after his sentence was found to be too lenient.
For assisting Mercer in removing the murder weapon and his clothing, Nathan Quinn, who was 18 at the time, received a two-year prison sentence.
Melvin Coy and Gary Kays, the other conspirators, received seven-year prison terms each, while Dean Kelly received a four-year sentence.
Mr. Justice Irwin described the gang as “selfish, shallow criminals, notable only by the risk you represent to others” when the group was punished.
Speaking last year, Rhys’s father Steve described the moment he learned that his son had been shot from Rhys’s mother Melanie:
Mel called him when he was driving up the M57 into Southport and told him that Rhys had been wounded and that he wanted him to immediately home.
She seemed upset and was clearly crying, as shown by her voice. Rhys was transported to the hospital as Mel arrived on the scene.
Your mind just doesn’t want to take it in or accept it, he said.