RHYS JONES: City grieves for Rhys

Aug 27 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

The whole city grieves for Rhys, while his neighbours realise community life will never be the same. Caroline Innes reports

THE death of an inno-cent football-crazy 11-year-old has not only rocked the Croxteth Park community where he lived, but has left many across the city – and beyond – in despair.

Last night, at the Tesco superstore where murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones’s mother works, shoppers openly wept and offered each other words of comfort as they queued to sign a book of condolence.

Such was the out-pouring of grief and sense of loss that three books of condolence have already been filled in tribute to the youngster.

Shopper Maureen Hall lives on the Croxteth Park estate, and her daughter, Molly Hough, aged 12, was a year above Rhys at Broad Square Primary School.

She said: “We have just been laying flowers at the scene and the atmosphere there on the estate is awful. It is suffocating and intense.

“Everyone is so shocked.

“We all have children who play there and we all know that it could just as easily have been one of ours.

“We are not allowing any of our children out. We just don’t feel that it is safe.

“Life on the estate will never be the same. We will never feel the same about living there and I know some people are now considering moving.”

Daughter Molly said: “I knew Rhys and he was really friendly.

“It is just so scary to think that it could have been me.”

Fellow shopper Katie Atkin said: “It must be unbelievable for the family.

“No parent should ever have to lose a child.

“The whole community is grieving alongside the Joneses. It is just so shocking.

“These people have no conscience and no regard for human life.”

Rachel O’Leary, who has a young son, wept as she signed the book of condolence after buying flowers from the store to take to the murder scene.

She said: “I can’t even begin to talk about it.

“It is just so sad.

“I don’t know the family but I have been so upset for them.

“I have a little boy who is three. To think that he could be taken from me, like Rhys was taken from his family, is so frightening. This is every parent’s worst nightmare.”

Andy Clayton, deputy manager at the Deysbrook Lane store, said staff and customers had been rocked by Rhys’s shocking death, and added that the company felt it had to act to not only support their employees but to offer somewhere for a community in mourning to pay their respects.

He added: “Staff and shoppers are devastated.

“Families are really trying to come to terms with how this could have possibly happened and are so shocked because they know that it could just have easily been their child.

“We have filled three books of condolence and every message is genuine and from the heart.

“People are talking about this everywhere and asked for this book to show Rhys’s parents Melanie and Stephen that they have the community’s support.

“But, more than that, our shoppers and our staff wanted to be able to express their own sorrow at Rhys’s death – they needed an outlet, too.

“Someone somewhere knows exactly who is responsible for this and the community will not rest until people have come forward with that information and the killer is caught.”

Assistant Chief Constable Patricia Gallan, from Merseyside Police, thanked Tesco and the community for their help in the investigation and information that has led to arrests.

SHE said: “We have now made nine arrests in connection with Rhys’s death. This is a dynamic, fast-moving investigation.

“The information being fed into the Incident Room is a vit- ally important strand to this in- quiry and we are keen to ensure that a steady stream of inform- ation continues to flow in to us.

“I’d like to thank Tesco for their support in renewing our appeal for information.

“It is vital that members of the community continue to come forward to help officers find those responsible.”

ANYONE with any information is asked to contact the Major Incident Team on 0151 7778722 or Crimestoppers, anonymously if they wish, on 0800 555 111. Alternatively you can text the word Crime to 61051 followed by the information or email detectives on murder@ merseyside.police.uk

THE father of Madeleine McCann said he had sent a message of support to the parents of murdered 11-year-old Rhys Jones.

Speaking on his and his Liverpool-born wife Kate’s behalf, he said they were both shocked by the murder of football-loving Rhys.

Mr McCann told the Edinburgh International Television Festival that he and Mrs McCann were “incredibly shocked” to hear of the shooting in her home town.

He said: “It is a tragic waste of a young life and his parents have our sympathy. I hope they have time to grieve.

“It will take them a long time to come to terms with what has happened, and I hope the perpetrator is found.

“But I think the difference between them and us though is that we are still in the middle of this trauma whereas they will have some closure.”

Mr McCann was at the festival to speak about the media coverage of the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine, who vanished from her bed in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal while her parents ate with friends in a nearby Tapas restaurant.

He also called for the media campaign to find her to be scaled down.

carolineinnes