The family of a young man murdered in his own home have vowed to continue their late father's fight for accountability and justice after the police watchdog identified mistakes before the shooting. Mikey Rainsford was 20 when he was shot twice while standing in the kitchen of his home on Harrington Road in Litherland by brothers James and Michael Foy in a revenge attack for something he had nothing to do with.
While both men were convicted of murder the following year, Mikey's family - spearheaded by his father Michael Snr - fought hard to prove Merseyside Police had information which tied James Foy to another firearm found by officers during a search months before the fatal shooting. Following Mr Rainsford's endeavours, the ECHO revealed that the police watchdog found there was a "missed opportunity" to arrest the suspect and a referral to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) should have been considered prior to Mikey's murder.
But just two months after Mr Rainsford had proved the failures, he sadly died, with his family sharing on social media that their "superhero" and "guiding light" had passed. At the time of his death he was supporting the families of other people murdered with a firearm, including Tim Edwards; the father of Elle, who was shot dead outside a Wirral pub on Christmas Eve 2022.
When the ECHO revealed the Independent Office for Police Conduct's (IOPC) findings last May, we showed how the watchdog found a detective's decision not to arrest the brother "had then allowed for a series of events that resulted in the death of [Mikey]." The IOPC review found the detective had a case to answer in relation to a breach of professional standards for duties and responsibilities. But they added that because the failures were not due to a deliberate action that the threshold had not been met for disciplinary proceedings and instead recommended a reflective consultation instead.
The ECHO understands in the wake of the May findings Merseyside Police responded to the IOPC and in turn the watchdog made two recommendations to the force. But Mikey's family only found out this week what the recommendations were following the intervention of the ECHO because the watchdog did not have next of kin contact details following Mr Rainsford's death.
We can now reveal the two recommendations made to Merseyside Police:
Recommendations from the IOPC
1) The IOPC recommends that Merseyside Police takes steps to ensure that investigators and their supervisors regularly review and document: Their decision to arrest or not to arrest, clearly for all investigations including firearms offences. Their decision and rationale as to if the case is ready or not to be submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service either for early investigative advice or a charging decision.
2) The IOPC recommends that Merseyside Police takes steps to ensure that in investigations in relation to firearms offences, investigators and supervisors are strongly encouraged to seek early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service. This is so that all relevant evidence can be assessed and the evidential enquiries necessary for a charging decision can be identified and documented as soon as practicable.
Today, Thursday, June 11, would have been Mr Rainsford's 60th birthday. And in memory of his father's life and legacy, Josh Rainsford - his son and Mikey's brother - told the ECHO that the family welcomed the findings but were pushing for further accountability.
Josh, now of Southport, said: "Today should have been a milestone celebration for our family. Instead of celebrating with him, we are left marking another empty chair at the table. When we lost Mikey, a piece of our family was stolen from us forever. But the tragedy didn't stop there. The unimaginable stress, heartbreak and the exhausting daily battle for answers and justice took an ultimate, devastating toll on my dad. He fought with every ounce of his being for his son, but sadly, the grief and the pressure were too much for his heart to bear, and he was taken from us too soon."
Josh claimed his family had been met "with total silence" since his father's death. But after seeing the recommendations he said the IOPC's findings exposed what he called "catastrophic failures", claiming if the people had done their jobs "my dad would never have been subjected to this trauma". He said that despite the recommendations he wanted to see further actions taken against the force.
The 22-year-old, who called the police after his brother's shooting and was later deplorably called a grass, added: "People might think that because time has passed, our family has moved on, or that the chapter is closed. It isn't. The pain doesn't fade, and our resolve has only hardened. We want to make one thing completely clear - our story is not over. We are still standing, we are still speaking his name, and we will not stop until there is true accountability for what was done to Mikey and to my dad. We love and miss our dad and we will never give up."
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police told the ECHO: "We can confirm that recommendations one and two, following amendment, were accepted. A further recommendation was not accepted." Speaking previously to the ECHO, Detective Chief Superintendent Sabi Kaur, head of Merseyside Police's professional standards department, said: "Prior to Michael Rainsford's murder we did not have a DNA profile that was considered sufficient to arrest Foy or to take the matter before the CPS for a charging decision. A number of lines of enquiry were in the process of being conducted, including further forensic and telecommunication work, with the aim of securing sufficient evidence to produce to the Crown Prosecution Service and ensure a realistic prospect of charge. Further forensic results linking Foy to the firearm were not available until after Michael's death on April 7. Following a complaint made by Michael Rainsford's father in 2021 into the investigation, we carried out a review and investigated his claims. He appealed this outcome to the IOPC who asked that it be re-investigated with recommendations for further enquiries to be carried out by our professional standards department, and that investigative work was completed."
James Foy's DNA was found on the gun when drug dealer Carl Mercer called the police and said he was under threat from gang members on November 3 2019. After police arrived and arrested him, he informed officers that there was a firearm and ammunition inside the house. Officers found a firearm and swabs were taken and sent to a forensics company. Mr Rainsford said during his son's inquest at Bootle Town Hall, the force's investigation team said "the fact it was a partial DNA profile and from a part of the gun that was removable meant there was insufficient evidence to charge James Foy at the time". James Foy was later charged with possession of the firearm found in the Bootle home and sentenced for the count after he was convicted of Mikey's murder.
On the evening of April 7, 2020, the Foy brothers arranged to meet after a brick was thrown through their mother's window. CCTV and phone data tracked the brothers through the streets before they arrived at Mikey's home. They fired two bullets from his back garden, hitting Mikey, who had no involvement in the events from earlier that evening. Prosecutors claimed the shooting was an act of "supposed retribution" for the brick incident. The CPS said the brothers were associated with local gang Linacre Young Guns, which rivalled the Kirkstone Riot Squad. The ECHO has seen three gang injunction notices where the brothers' names are mentioned. The CPS said there had been "conflicts" between the two rival gangs in Bootle, Seaforth and Litherland before Mikey's murder. In the dock alongside the Foy brothers were their mother Joyce Smith, uncle Craig Johnson and neighbour Andrew Saunderson, who were all found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
On the day James Foy was sentenced, his barrister Christopher Henley KC said: "He wants the court to know it was him that fired the gun that night." Following the trial, James Foy, then aged 18, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 28 years. He was given an additional five years to run concurrently for the other firearms offence. His older brother Michael, then 22, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for Mikey's murder. Mr Rainsford previously said Mikey, a keen skateboarder, was "such an integral part of our family". He added: "We talk about him being the biggest cog in it with his strength and how he looked after his brother and sister during his life. He was physically and mentally strong."
