The Shocking Murder of Mikey Rainsford | Murdered at First Sight | Forensic Files

you got to top out of Christmas if you've been your name first there's lots of Michael's out there
don't be shy he's got to see your face so he knows who you're not my favorite [Music]
my huge low for the family is more than I've ever seen he was the glue to our family
[Music] there's a bass band playing I'm a walking through brickson Harbor and he just starts dancing to the
crescendo of the brass man playing which you know made me smile my he was a fun friend always cracking
jokes and we'd like jump out on one another and like try and scare one another just just good times
[Music] I remembered my phone going off quite early in the morning it was the detective superintendent and he
explained about we've had the death of a Young Man why she came home no I'm a nice very
quiet just like like it is now and he came in and he said well let's drop him off and his girlfriends
they never got to finish the sentence when two bullets just come through the window
[Music] I remember I had my heat just running and they meet up brother that'll be so
clueless what's going on to be in your kitchen the sanctity of your own home and to be shot not just once not twice
30 seconds earlier you were sitting there watching a television program now he has Sons on
the floor in your house uh Dyer in Frontier my birthday is forever tarnished by this
horrible memory that a day later the night I lost [Music] or the millions of happy memories
and then [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] see the baby itself [Music] I just actually wasn't too long because
he was he was born you know very very healthy it's good yeah that's something that's in run weeks
I mean it doesn't look here but that's that's a very very high ramp he was he he was a dead and skateboard
that he had no fear whatsoever when it came to Ryan [Music] my heat was a really talented
skateboarder and you could just tell like his heart was in it and he just loved it because he was here all the
time and it was really passionate about it and he was doing stuff that I'd never
seen anybody else do especially at his age [Music] I like to keep myself fit but he wasn't
a poser I'd like to take his shirt off in the summer because you just skateboarded and he was practicing spot
so much he was so healthy and fit lovely smile long brown hair as opposed to where I've got he was just a handsome
very handsome young man oh he's looking out for me giving me advice telling me how to dress you know
always putting a little bit of money in my pocket whenever he needs a day or literally anything he was always there
he was that big brother that everybody always ever wanted [Music] what I could see between my he and his
brother Josh my he was always there for him caring for him making sure that he was good but not only that might he was
obviously doing his own thing with his own friends but he would allow Josh to be included in that so he was a really
good older brother we used to have play fights in the living room as well made me have to tell
you what Amy moment I did sit there like we were laughing in like a little wrestling or Dina
I am being tall and these big kids and I use this for 11 small small child it was
funny to watch well we looked out of those and you think these are all dreams and the
horizons that were never going to say it could have been this it couldn't have been there
they're not just what if it's weird ripped away from you [Music] I remember the 6th of April first
because that was the day before Joshua's birthday it just turned yeah 16th it was
a nice spring day every morning you check on everybody he's asking he'd do what he needs us to do around
how she sort of watching dishes you'd clean up for me mom I want to have eaten once everything was
done I needed to do he'd go out and enjoy his day with his friends [Music] it was actually running a bit late and
he came and he said well let's drop them off and his girlfriends let's get into about like around 11
o'clock and then around my heat popping each other and he comes over to me and says should I wear any clothes are
because I know you've been weird and um all defensive no no no I haven't no I haven't known for well I have water's
clothes I'm reluctantly agree but I was never ever not gonna tell you if I'm just
tired wanting to go to bed so he went in the kitchen to get some cans of coke and
saw the bits to sit up and watch some movies or something when he got around there
prompt them so I kind of walked into the bathroom which led into the kitchen doorway
and I said to Michael said to him and I never got to finish the sentence I was the loudest loudest loudest noise
I've ever heard I'd seen these two big holes in the window and follows me dodged into the
living room and me brother shouted get down and I was lying I was Airline on the floor in the living room
shocked he didn't know what to do it was it was horrible he was just Frozen and he snapped out of it
you don't pass me and then Emily seconds I'm thinking I'm okay he's okay because he's running belong to
me we've just gone into the hallway where we felt there was no windows and we had to hold of each other we were
sort of like trying to protect each other thinking nobody's got to hit but okay there's no blood
Michael said Dad [Music] and then each launched it just uh you like it will be [Music]
so that's the moment she realized there's something seriously wrong me and my dad we flipped around and we
lifted up as tough to see we thought it was just one but there was two and we've seen the one in his chest
and we did what I thought I'd I should do and that was cover the hull with a towel because I'd
seen that that's what you do and it didn't work and the noises it was it's it's a haunting
noise that I'll always remember and I remember shouting to him come on mate you're gonna be okay you're gonna
be okay I remember the color just draining from his face [Music] I picked up the iPhone the first thing I
said was my brother's being shot [Music] okay we don't know myself police received a telephone call from
Mikey's younger brother Josh very distressing very you were a young man who was fearful
you were a young man [Music] screaming begging his brother not to die he had the presence of mind to tell the
call Tiger that he was fearful for his and his family's safety because he didn't know whether or not
his silence we're gonna return we don't even know if we're safe we don't know if we're safe are we here
right now Michael became unresponsive I tried to give CPR and it was just I was I was doing the
best I could and he was kept on asking was there people still there and then there was a banging on the door
and I didn't know whether it was the police or it was these people he wanted to find more shots
[Music] but it was the neighbors and uh [Music] I couldn't see the faces on terrified
they were when they see what they saw trying to keep myself alive screaming trying to fall into the police audio
and then Michael just all of a sudden made this noise that allowed just so much louder louder and louder and
lasted for about three seconds [Music] and it was me Sean uh not once it would not want to leave us
yeah and I looked at him and he was scared he was terrified and he just his eyes all back
he just he died there [Music] [Music] did you get any more present yeah yeah what are you gonna get your mum
I was that's nice what are you gonna get your dad okay instincts doesn't he no okay
[Music] foreign murder happened late on April the 7th and I think as crime report quite often
I'd be dialed into what's happening pretty much 24 7. we knew that there'd been a shooting that night and we knew
that somebody had been hurt [Music] it all happened so fast from the the arms response came through the door
and they brought in a defibrillator and not even that was working away in the ambulance still trying to
resourcitate them we were watching from from the front door I'm getting taken away you have to
put a sheet over them and we ended up there for about 20 minutes getting spoken to by these police
officers um they were reassuring and I was telling us that there's a chance you might
survive but 20 minutes after you got the call back on the radio to say that he passed and me and he does
we just broke down [Music] all right I remembered my phone going off quite early in the morning it was the
protective superintendent and he explained about we've had the death of a young man before long I was in my car
driving to work became aware that sadly it become a murder investigation and after that
attention turns to two things for anyone who's a victim and two what are the circumstances have led to this scenario
based upon the nature of the shooting coming outside of the home in through a kitchen window they were looking outside
the home for shell casings for Witnesses who may have seen cars or people coming
and going there's a lot less guns in the United Kingdom compared to the United States so looking at who may have a gun
how this gun could be moves throughout the city I started reading a little bit about the
deceased the first thing that stood out was he was only a young man you know reading from the intelligence
picture that we had started collating he had his life ahead of him I found out subsequently that Mikey was a keen
Sports person that he was a really good skateboarder me and my humor were kind of helped me get comfortable in the
skate park and and introduced me to other people and the friend group that they all had here and then just started
to like help me skate and teach me teach me all the stuff that he knew he was on a skateboard first time we had
a video with him and he was actually inside the building of this complex and he fell off it and landed on the floor
and then that was sort of like the start of you know his genius Escape board and
he never fell off a skateboard after that one of my favorite memories with my heat
was when he took me to Southport for the first time and I haven't been there before and my he was like wait for this
tram to come come past and then we'll go behind it but I didn't know what he was
going to do and then this try and come by and he's like quick grab onto it so next thing we both graveled the Baha the
tram on our skateboards and this charms pulling us down the track and we're just
laughing our heads off foreign [Music] and it's not that far away from bootle in the docklands and it predominantly
work in class people probably I am the background that I came from as a working class Lance
um you aren't you level of criminality weird hearts a couple of shootings across the wide emergic side region and
neighboring Force area the thing that became apparent to me soon after and I think this was within
the first 24 hours so we're still in that golden hour base is that there were two Rivals factions that were operating
to having a shooting there isn't necessarily a surprise but with Michael being the target it was quite confusing
as to what the motive might have been and why he might have been targeted in this specific area there was a lot of
escalating gang activity there were shootings going back and forth police knew that this was the right age group
to be potentially gang involved they were worried that there was some involvement and so I'm sure the first
thing they were looking into is was Nike involved in a gang did he have any contacts was there something that led
this to occur or was he simply just the victim of a tragic unpreventable shooting
[Music] he wasn't an obvious Target and that was clear very very early on from this not
just from what the police are saying but also from the friends and the family that we started to get into contact with
uh witness had told us that there were two male figures who arrived at a location
on a specific make and model of a bike it was an electric bike and it was a sore on bike
we start to see messages from on things like social media and tributes to it became almost a bit peculiar because so
often when this happens once you find out who it is you can almost you can almost see the pattern in which it's
taken place with Michael it was just nothing obvious whatsoever living is an area that's that's gone through
difficult times recently yeah there was a lot of Industry particularly around the the docks in the northern Liverpool
area working on various lines of inquiries which included Community intelligence
people were genuinely concerned people with fearful first priority for police is to examine
whether this was a truly random shooting if there was some connection or if there
was even a mistaken connection that could have led to this shooting the first would be looking at everybody as a
potential suspect and knowing they could strike on another member of the community
why was he shot in his home your home meant to be a safe place who was it who targeted him was he involved in gangs
did he upset somebody was it a retribution for something else that he did and then you start thinking who else
is at risk there's a Scramble for information quite often there's a delay between what the
police are willing to tell you before you can actually put that information out there but even before then you start
to piece together what's happened it's just a case of dot in the eyes and crossing the teeth
the first thing I wanted to get a little bit more of is what can we get from CCTV
what can we get from anpr Witnesses so we needed to cover quite a massive area as quickly as possible
talk to police officer I've got to go and speak to his mum I said I can't tell you anything else
I don't know what's going on but Michael's dad [Music] everybody just broke down quiet because
we just couldn't comprehend what it's got our this was a normal family night in [Music]
[Music] of what happened I could see at the bathroom upstairs the leaves the needles the equipment deduced
it's you know a general thing that said machines and blood Footprints 100 minutes
um I couldn't read his mom see I couldn't let myself see that so we'll just put a towel over the head
and then Joshua Linda's sister downstairs in the same way that's I don't know what I had
so then I forgot to see how that traumatic memory I've seen when it happened at the bottom of the
stairs [Music] with Michael it was just nothing obvious whatsoever it looked like a targeted murder because
it happened at his home shots had been fired from his window so obviously you think someone has deliberately gone
there to Target him and there must be a reason for that but the more that we found out about Michael the more we
found out about his family almost the more the more information we got the more confusing this seemed because it
was very very difficult to place a motive on what happened I wasn't just looking for
evidence connected to the shoots in the active murder in Mikey I always wanted to see a sort of lifestyle that he have
was Mikey a gangsters they use it Lydia firearms and they have wealth did he have anything that I could give as a
motive for why he was targeted and I didn't find it didn't find other than a couple of
parent Riders I remember walking away from the scene knowing that the assailant the targeted
Mikey I knew that they were shooting to harm Nike and this was from information that I got
and the days and weeks after make us men for the first week we were in a bubble and then we were allowed to go back
towards the house and they said we could go inside the house the bullet holes were still in the
window there was still shout to Glass all over the kitchen on top of Joshua's birthday cake it was a sight to see you
know abandoned in the living room spots of Bloods in the hole you know but everyone was saying the same thing
why am I he the reality kicked in actually quite a far way down the line and after that
happened we were told that we couldn't no longer stay there because it was a crime scene and
we had to stay somewhere else and it was such a hard decision because that's the
only home I've ever known for 16 years in my life and that decision was probably one of
the hardest decisions to make and not to go back and the night of his murder Mikey
Rainsford was looking forward to spending night with his girlfriend he asked his dad for a lift he was so
excited about the evening he was in his kitchen and shots came through the window and unfortunately he died and his
dad and brother's arms in a hallway in his own home [Music] the local policing team we were able to
start Lincoln because Intel were coming in with different names but two names that were quite high upon that list
were pip and worm I also started looking a bit closer to an incident that occurred not so long
before the shooting and this incident involved an allegation of criminal damage and it occurred Rossini streets that
address happened to be the home address if Joyce Smith who is the mother of James and Michael Foy
these are the two prominent members of the Gang going from local intelligence and from
statements by officers who were quite quickly able to narrow down that people was in fact the
nickname for James and worm was in fact their nickname for Michael heard about the potential involvement of
the fouries before they were charged during the kind of the early stages of police investigation you know it's a
family that was known about in the area and I'd sat in the same room as Michael for just a couple of years earlier when
he was jailed for for drug dealing for his involvement a gang that dealt drugs in the streets around where he lived
Michael hasn't been dead for 24 hours yeah they had in the region of 60 phone calls all say the same names that late
I'd never heard of the phrase I'd never heard James or my hopefully I always knew that he didn't know who it was
because he never had enemies never had he never never upsets anyone he never no one ever had a reason to Target him
telephone data led us to execute a warrant at an associate of the Foy Brothers we subsequently seized their phone
didn't get the firearm or the motorbike but the telephone data resulted on us executed a warrant an
associate of the voice just we knew that they'd been in touch communicating on the phone
within the relevant time we subsequently seized this person's phone and was able to get it downloaded
and embedded within Snapchat was a still image also bedded within this photograph
was a very thick message which said something along the lines of tell yamar doc don't use bricks
then it had two emojis which looked like it was saying don't use bricks Bang Bang
foreign [Music] came out the house that morning a whole of Huntington roads every single
neighbor was stood on the front garden and the hairs come out come down the street and we followed it up in a car
and there was there was like a it was like about 20 cars behind us following us down this little roads little quiet
Road [Music] [Music] eulogy uh as we drove past the school um all the teachers and the pupils that
come out and they lie on the street and the all Applause he was known as a positive person within
that community and for that Community you only have to look at the scenes for his funeral
foreign [Music] this shows it because what this this picture shows is smile but it doesn't show you the 20 people I
was a shot of how many friends and our war we was with people [Music] in his own home while he was doing
absolutely nothing wrong police saw this and knew they had very dangerous offenders out on the streets
and they were moving as fast as they could to remove them Michael Rainsford murder the storyline
essentially started just after 10 o'clock on the night of April the 7th what happened essentially was the home
of the voice where their mother was alone bricks got put through the window and that sparked a whole series of
events really with with the brothers finding out about it trying to think who might be responsible and then trying to
enact retribution as as quickly as as possible bricks were thrown through the window
if the family seat of the voice the mom then made a telephone call to his son James
who in turn contacted Michael Foy Arrangements must have been made because we were able to prove that James
traveled to a nearby park and Michael's girlfriend dropped him off at that location
the CCTV evidence shows two people traveling back towards Racine Street on that motorbike we know that the foy's
made telephone calls to the associates and then they seemed to travel directly to Harrington
I believe somebody gave them make its name [Music] and likely to be his address boys did not have any evidence
suggest that Maggie was responsible for the damage but again if you look at it a
breakthrough window and their responses to use firearm in an hour they're pulling the trigger
something that they don't even know yeah that tells you everything that you need
to know about them the lack of due diligence like a thought process even in terms of you know the trail of clues
that they leave that help the police to solve their crime it doesn't belie any sophistication it belies an idiocy and a
complacency in an arrogance [Music] we executed the Warrens at the foy's house sadly James was not there but we found a
number of items which we thought were relevant we were able to confirm that they had access to electric bikes
because there were component parts and charges Etc the witness stated that one of them was wearing the Montclair
jackets or at least one of them and we recovered similarly described jackets within the property
both brothers James and Michael Foy were arrested by members of the team both gave no comment interviews and were
recovered the invoice for the purchase of the reds are on bike so we're able to put those
in the voice possession another key pieces of evidence was that we sent off the jackets to be examined
and the scientists was able to find gunshot residue on the Garment the type of GSR was what you would
expect for the killer of Mikey to be in contact with [Music] it makes me feel heartbroken that his
life was quite short by these monsters because he meant nothing but good to to the world and to the people around them
and um you know it does make me emotional to think kind of the impact that's that's having
on his family as well [Music] in retribution for a broken window where these two Lads lived with the
mother and see forth [Music] and an hour before my son's murder somebody had thrown a bricks through
their window and in there it's delusional gangster world's criminal World somebody was
going to pay [Music] my brother's life over a broken window to any rational person
that seems so deserted to do something like that you know to take another person's life
over a broken window [Music] we were told that a lot of the evidence they had was circumstantial
it was going to be a really tough case to to prove because there was no core there's no motivation these were
important pieces of evidence the two brothers set off with mergers intent and executed Mikey in his kitchen
before callously jumping back on the bike and heading back towards the family seats
the call data and the telephone information CCTV suggested at some stage assisted them with disposing of
the bike were never able to prove where the weapon went all disposed of it is it hidden
[Music] the trial itself every day was like tearing the page of a book that you'd
never read because we were being told for the first time on diluted um to see them too
scrawny kids who thought that they were Outlaws with guns on the first day of the trial as the sio
you're probably more nervous than the family because that's the first phase that the church is going to look at the
technicality the legality of things that you've done when the defense put forward
their case you know it's not personal but it feels personal if they question something they didn't
get or something that they are accusing that wasn't done in a certain way you feel personal because you've left that
case for over a year you've lived breathe sleep eat everything there is a lot to take in and I stopped
to come to play background and phone call it's so hard to listen to the full thing you can hear everything
there was no Lamas at all for any of them nothing made sense you know I had no doubt in my mind that
the jewelry were going to say innocent or guilty I know killed me Sean and I know I knew
what they're gonna say covered the murder trial throughout I was there every day of the six week none
again for sentencing at the end and they're really really difficult processes to be involved with the
horrible because you have lives on the line you have a life that's already been lost the family's lives and they've been
torn apart by what's happened and they're desperate for justice these trials take place and they're so
tense and they're so emotional the consequences are the actions of whoever responsible you know they lie heavy on
the atmosphere of the courtroom because so much is at stake whatever they're going to get convicted get a sentence
Center Jail in this case it's murder so you know it's a mandatory minimum life sentence
calls it a criminal trial I think the brothers was it's almost like it was a theater
there were points that yes they were listening intently but at the same time there were points that they showed a
disregard for the process um head down eyes turn away smirking smiling at each other I don't think I was surprised
because they had that almost arrogant attitude throughout the course of the investigation
[Music] I went to the theater I couldn't miss that and I remember just every single
day I was there I couldn't take my eyes with them just just knowing it was then we've done that
he wasn't with us anymore and it was just a Shard of relief comfort that the people who don't
know being killed but it wasn't bringing them back it really was extraordinary what
unfolded in Liverpool Crown court that day we've heard the foys and their Baristas protesting their innocence
they were being a bit more about things which repulsed us because you know disgusting
just announced I do a little guilty one by one still start to swear that's shouting
punch the walls James foy's Barrister got up he I thought some of the words that still
live with me today to be honest and he said all of a sudden his client wanted to tell the court he was guilty he was
the person that pulled the trigger that night and it was just stunning [Music] James and Michael Foy were sentenced for
their crimes on the 12th of March in 2021 James Foy was sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in prison and
Michael Foy received a minimum of 30 years in prison for the murder that they committed
I was pleased with the length of sentences but we had the pattern to have the life sense into every day of the
week after this to see Michael's clothes in the wardrobe to think of all the horizons that they've stolen
[Music] I have never commented on sentences I'd never try and say I think it should be more I
think it should be less because I think the judges will have all the facts and they would have given a
good explanation in the seminar do a thing the sentence was probably appropriate for an offensive murder yeah
it was it's every member of the team who wants to give the rainford Family Justice you can only walk away knowing
that you've done your best and on this occasion I did my best at the end of that child he actually
said we'll be outing 40 years but your brother will still be in the mood that's stuck with me every day
because [Music] that is it's true they'll be out in fourth years but I'll never love my
brother back and it just breaks me out to know that he could have gone on to be such an
amazing person the other future he really did have a future whether it was into skateboarding but it was
photography and it was fishing he had a future perfect and it's really sad that he's
gone [Music] and you could go into the Escape Park he'd ever been to before where all the
local kids were skating and it's all stop I watch who's this kid you know it was
that talented you know you could have you know it could be it could have gone as far as he wants to
think that it's really devastating that he would be able to live out all of these opportunities that would have been
there waiting for him given all of his talent he could have done a whole host of different things with his life
especially now with the BMX and the skateboard and it's kind of getting more popular than with the Olympics and stuff
like that and I genuinely believe my he could have you know given them all a room for the money because he was just
that good [Music] since Michael was murdered we all changed for the worst physically and mentally at his happily
draw the curtains and never go out again and when you do go out you put a mask on
because of what it does to you and it's a save for Joanne but she's mum you take care of the dancers before
these things you know when you walk around the house and [Music] the first thing I did when I came back
was closely to the window and from there I went straight up to the dream and I lied and I just I just lied if I
was you know just just holding his personal belongings you know it was it was horrible
[Music] oh I'm haunted by saying I was scared terrified by almost in the last seconds
of his life when he should have been sitting in the car going to see a girlfriend
you know what would the future have held you know get engaged to have an old child moving it together
just because I wanna you know do the growing up all the things well you know they also still had
a lot of fun things to do lots of millions and millions and billions of them and you see me we made
are there those animals so far away seeing that happened to the person you look up to most
it it ripped me apart you know I remember trying to be this strong man I felt like I lost a piece of me that
that night I really did you know someone I looked up to so much he's never there anymore you know what I
mean it broke me I'll never heal from now okay I think Father Christmas has got everything he needs to know
do you remember Christmas I need to get your message okay put this in the book for them okay
all right okay here you go bye [Music] foreign foreign

In April 2020, 20-year-old Mikey Rainsford is shot dead in his own home while talking to his father inside the family’s kitchen. The family is left devastated by the unimaginable crime and loss of their beloved son. Police are left with two questions: who is responsible for this senseless killing and why did they do it? Murdered At First Sight is a true crime documentary series that tells the first-hand stories of the most complex and hard-to-solve homicide cases: murders committed by strangers.

Brief Summary

Michael Rainsford was murdered in his home, leading to a complex investigation and trial of the Foy brothers.

Key points

A Family's Tragedy. A young man is shot in his own home, leaving a family shattered.
The Moment of Horror. A loud noise shatters the peace of a family night, leading to chaos.
Confusion and Fear. The aftermath of a shooting leaves family members in shock and fear for their safety.
The Impact of Violence. The emotional toll of losing a loved one to violence is profound and lasting.
A Life Cut Short. Reflecting on the potential future of a talented young man taken too soon.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You were sitting there watching a television program, now he has sons on the floor.

1:49WatchOct 4, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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