THE Croxteth Park Estate where Rhys was shot in August last year has around 10,000 people living in 3,500 privately-owned houses.
Dave Saville, 43, chairman of Croxteth Country Park Residents’ Association, said it had always been a “lovely place to live” despite being sandwiched between the warring gangs of Norris Green and Croxteth.
“We’ve got a park on one side and it’s very quiet. Most of the people who live here have come here from all over the city.” Mr Saville, who has lived in the area for 12 years, said parents had been afraid to let their children out of their homes following the shooting but police patrols had made people feel safer.
Speaking about Rhys’s death, Mr Saville said: “When it happens where you live it’s a huge shock. There’s massive empathy for the parents and family of Rhys.
“There is still anti-social behaviour because the kids haven’t got anything to do.”
Speaking about the community centre in honour of Rhys, Mr Saville said: “It will give kids an opportunity for them to say there is something there for them, rather than saying ‘What is there for me? I’ll just hang around street corners’.”
The Rev Mark Coleman, who was the vicar at St Christopher’s Church in Norris Green and chairman of governors at Broad Square Primary School, where Rhys was a pupil, added: “It’s (Norris Green) not a broken community but there are clearly families that aren’t working at all.
“There is violence, drink and drugs and gangs too. But gangs have never been a big issue.
“The school community was devastated by Rhys’s death, as were the local churches and local people, and we have all hoped for a long time for justice.
“I am very pleased the investigation and trial have reached a conclusion and that justice has been done.
“Melanie and Stephen Jones have been very much in the prayers of people from this part of Liverpool. I met them on several occasions and am aware of the tremendous suffering they have carried this last 15 months, and their bravery.
“We must not let this one tragedy distort our view of this community. Norris Green, Croxteth and West Derby are good places to live and work.
“We must not demonise the young people of this area. They are fundamentally no different from others of their age in other parts of the country and have the same aspirations. They face risks of course – gangs, drugs, drink and we must not walk by on the other side but rather intervene positively to help them. There is certainly more that those of us who live and work in the area can do to try to stop tragedies like this happening again. It would be good if there were more good jobs for young men. But there is much to give thanks for – and much is positive that we can build on.”
