The country has been gripped by Little Boy Blue, the emotional drama based on the coldblooded murder of 11 year old Rhys Jones.
And unsurprisingly, the actors, writer and all those involved in making the four part ITV series have been praised for telling such an impactful story with tact and class.
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But it has emerged that the show has also encouraged some very strange people to turn Rhys’ killer Sean Mercer into a celebrity.
According to the Daily Star, Sean, who is serving 22 years for the murder, has been “deluged with fan-mail since Little Boy Blue aired”.
For some bizarre reason, the young killer has attracted a large number of fans since the drama kicked off three weeks ago.
These delusional ‘fans’ have been sending him messages, toiletries and even cash.
“The more notorious the killer, the more letters, and since the show has begun, Mercer’s post bag has increased,” a source has told the Star.
“Any cash is paid into his prison bank account and he can spend it on clothes or treats from the jail’s canteen.
“He won’t get stuff like toiletries because they pose too much of a security risk.”
Little Boy Blue recounts the story of Rhys Jones’s murder that took place in 2007.
As he walked home from football practise in Liverpool, Sean, wearing a hood, cycled by and fired three shots from a handgun.
Although paramedics tried for over an hour-and-a-half to save Rhys, he was later pronounced dead at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
After months of investigations 18-year-old Sean – a member of the Croxteth Crew gang – was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Other gang members were also sentenced for assisting an offender.
Meanwhile, Sinead Keenan who plays Rhys’ mum Melanie says filming was gruelling because of the story they were telling but also because Rhys’ father Steve was occasionally on set to keep a watch on things.
While filming the court scene the accused are seen to be behaving badly in the stand, which Sinead initially had been exaggerated for TV.
However, she was shocked when Steve told her that that was exactly what had happened.
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“The boys were behaving like animals, and it was so close to the bone,” Sinead, spoke of the scene.
“But Steve said: ‘That was exactly how it was and I’m glad you’re portraying it in that way so people can see.’”
Sinead also said that she couldn’t imagine what the heartbroken parents must be going through, even ten years on since the brutal murder.
“You don’t get over it, even with a guilty verdict. There’s no full stop<‘ she told Phillip and Holly on This Morning.
“Mel and Steve still have to live every day without their son, and no guilty verdict is going to bring him back.”