Home secretary meets family of murdered Rhys Jones

Jan 11 2008 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

HOME Secretary Jacqui Smith yesterday unveiled plans to ban de-activated guns during a visit to Liverpool which included a meeting with the parents of murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones.

Ms Smith said she wanted to protect the public and allow police to remove black-market firearms from the streets, following the private meeting with Melanie and Stephen Jones.

The meeting took place when Ms Smith visited Croxteth, where the couple’s 11-year-old son was shot dead on August 22 while returning home from football practice.

Croxteth councillor Rose Bailey said the Home Secretary had wanted to meet Rhys’s parents since their tragic loss.

Cllr Bailey added: “I am delighted that they had the chance to meet with her and share their experience and thoughts.”

Mr and Mrs Jones have repeatedly called for the gunman who shot their son to hand himself in, but while 20 people have been arrested, no-one has yet been charged.

Ms Smith’s visit came as dawn raids by Merseyside police saw 26 people arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs in the Croxteth and Norris Green areas.

The raids were carried out at 31 addresses by the force’s Matrix team who seized approximately £13,000 cash, three handguns, imitation firearms, two BB guns, ammunition and cocaine, heroin and ecstasy.

A further five people were also arrested during the operation.

Ms Smith said: “I want to balance protecting the public with the rights of responsible collectors of deactivated firearms.

“I will shortly consult on a way forward to allow genuine curators to collect legitimate firearms while giving the police and other enforcement agencies the powers they need to get black-market firearms off our streets.

“Tackling gun crime is key to making people feel safer and more secure in their communities.

“We already have the tightest controls in Europe, but there is more we can do to remove the threat of gun crime.”

The proposal to make converted or de-activated guns illegal comes after a huge increase in the amount of model and pellet guns to have been converted to fire live ammunition. Police estimate there are 120,000 in circulation in the UK.

Ms Smith visited Croxteth Community primary school to meet the children to talk to them about how they are affected by gang-related crime, and to hear how the police are working with them and their parents.

Merseyside Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe welcomed Ms Smith’s support in the fight against gun crime.

carolineinnes