A plea to the people – find Rhys Jones’s killer

Aug 24 2007 by Caroline Innes and Ashley Wray, Liverpool Daily Post

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THE heartbroken mother of murdered 11-year-old Rhys Jones last night made an emotional appeal to the people of Liverpool to catch her son’s killer.

Melanie Jones, 41, broke down in tears as she spoke of “her baby” who was shot dead as he made his way from football practice to his Croxteth Park home at 7.30pm on Wednesday.

Police believe his killer, who remains at large, is just 13 to 15 years old.

Mrs Jones rushed to the scene to cradle her youngest son as he lay dying, and last night begged for help to catch his killer.

She said: “Our son was only 11, our baby. This should not happen, this should not be going on. I just want them caught.

“Please, someone, somewhere must know who has done this.

“My baby was only 11. He didn’t deserve this.”

Rhys’s father, Stephen Jones, was on the M57 heading to his job as a retail manager for Tesco when his wife phoned with news of his “worst nightmare”.

He mistakenly went to Fazakerley hospital before arriving at Alder Hey.

He said: “I went into the major trauma room. There was my son lying on his back, bleeding, trying to be resuscitated by the doctors there.

“They did a fantastic job but he’s gone.”

He continued: “We then got taken to the bereavement suite.

“You go to see him, you hold him and cuddle him.

“The guy’s only 11, he’s only 11.

“I then go to his room where he should be, he should be asleep, open his wardrobe, his school uniform that we have bought for senior school, his pens and pencils, are there unopened. His calculator is there unopened, his shoes are still in the box, his trainers are still in the box.

“It’s just horrific, your worst nightmare.”

Rhys was hit in the neck by one of three shots fired in the car park of the Fir Tree pub.

Mrs Jones said she was not able to speak to her son as she cradled him after the shooting.

“He didn’t come around after that. He was just lying there in a pool of blood. They tried for an hour and a half to resuscitate him, but his little body couldn’t take it. He had just lost too much blood.”

Mr Jones said his son was in no way connected to gangs in the city.

He said: “The guy (Rhys) probably doesn’t know what a gang is, he’s never been in some sort of gang.

“You should be able to let your kids out to play.

“We are devastated, we have lost our world, the world has lost a good guy.

“He was absolutely football-mad, a season ticket holder with me, his brother (Owen, 17).

“Football was his life.

“People are saying to me ‘Wrong time, wrong place’.

“But it shouldn’t be a case of wrong time, wrong place. It shouldn’t happen in this country.”

The landlord of the Fir Tree pub said he had seen an increase in violence in Croxteth Park.

Keith Doyle was one of the first to get to Rhys and gave him CPR until paramedics arrived.

“I just feel sick. I came out here and I was with him.

“It could have been anyone’s kid, it’s just not something you expect. I can’t even begin to imagine what his mum felt like when she had that phone call. No mum should ever have to go through this.

“She was just holding him, saying: ‘Come on Rhys, come on Rhys’.”

Rhys was still wearing his football strip and boots after training with the pub’s youth team when he was shot. Youngsters spoke of their horror at witnessing his murder.

Megan Davies, 15, said: “We heard two shots, turned round and saw the third hit him.

“My friend Kelly Kays was the first to get to him and she just held him in her arms.

“She was screaming and screaming.

“They took her off him so they could do CPR and she was just in shock – we all are.

“None of us slept a wink last night and now people are too afraid to go out.”

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy and an 18-year-old arrested on suspicion of murder were bailed by police pending further inquiries.

Detectives have admitted they are yet to trace the gunman who was seen taking aim at Rhys while riding a BMX-type bike.

Witnesses said the teenage attacker held the gun with both hands and “never flinched” as he fired.

White, around 5ft 8ins, he was wearing a dark-coloured hoody and possibly a peaked cap.

Around 100 officers are investigating the murder, backed by 200 staff from the Matrix unit set up to tackle gun crime.

Merseyside Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe said Rhys and his family were “responsible” people caught up in a terrible crime.

He said: “We need help. This is terrible and shocking, and I am horrified.

“We need to find out who provided the gun. There are too many guns on the streets.”

Assistant Chief Constable Simon Byrne called for the killer to hand himself in.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it was a “heinous crime that shocked the whole of the country”, while Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley called for a “summit” of major cities with the Home Secretary to tackle gun crime.

Cllr Bradley said: “The tragic events have stunned and disgusted the entire population of Liverpool, and indeed the nation.

“I am calling upon the minority criminal elements within our communities to step forward and provide the police with any information that they might have, and for the law-abiding residents of the city to stand together and fight against the few who threaten our communities.

“It is vital that Rhys Jones’s family find some solace in seeing that all those people involved in the shooting, whether they trafficked the weapon or fired the gun, are brought to justice.”

Since the start of 2007, eight young people have lost their lives in shootings, six in London, one in Manchester and now Rhys.

Elaine Spencer, headteacher at Broad Square Primary School, said: “Rhys was so passionate about football and talked about being the next David Beckham.

“He had all the potential to do very well in anything he wanted.”

Deputy head Norma Wright added: “He was a lovely boy, a really nice lad. When something like this happens, you always wonder whether it’s someone from this school, but you never would have thought it would have been him.

“He was a passionate Evertonian. Whenever we had a dress up day he would be there in his Everton kit.”

Everton star Tim Cahill spoke of his shock at the murder.

The midfielder said it was a “tragic waste of life” and he was praying for Rhys’ family.

He said: “It’s unthinkable that a young kid playing football can end up being killed.”

CONTACT Merseyside Police on 0800 230 0600, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111; text the word Crime to 61051 followed by the information, or e-mail the Murder Investigation Team at murder@merseyside.police.uk

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