Fresh search of woodland near Rhys murder scene

Aug 28 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

POLICE have started a search of woodland near where 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead.
 
Officers were scouring Dam Wood, which is near the entrance to the Croxteth Park estate where Rhys was murdered last Wednesday.

Police refused to say what they were looking for, but said they were acting on information given to the investigation team.

Meanwhile, detectives have refused to rule out today that he may have been caught up in a tit-for-tat shooting war between rival gangs.

Officers also said they had received a “steady stream” of calls from the public anxious to help catch the schoolboy’s killer.

A Merseyside Police spokeswoman revealed that 32 calls have been made to the Crimestoppers hotline so far.

Figures for the number of calls made directly to the incident room and text messages have yet to be collated.

A spokeswoman said: “Thirty-two people have felt strongly enough to call us with information, some of which will be crucial to the investigation.

“Along with calls to the incident room and the force switchboard, and as well as text messages, there has been a steady stream of information.”

Police said they will spend today examining the calls in detail.

It has not been revealed whether any of the calls shed light on the activities of the two rival gangs which operate in Croxteth, east Liverpool, home to Rhys and the scene of his murder.

Officers are investigating the possibility that Rhys may have been caught up in a feud between the Croxteth Crew and the Strand Gang.

The spokeswoman added: “That cannot be ruled out. At this stage of the inquiry we are still very much keeping an open mind.”

The police last night released the most detailed account yet of the hierarchies of the rival gangs whose feud is believed to have led to the death of Rhys.

The charts, detailing the make-up of the Strand Gang from Norris Green and the Croxteth Crew, were issued as senior detectives refuted claims that gang culture in the city was out of control.

Answering criticism of their investigation into the murder of 11-year-old Rhys, senior officers said Merseyside Police were winning the war against gang culture and said they were “breaking records in the number of people we are putting behind bars.”

Assistant Chief Constable Simon Byrne revealed the Croxteth Crew, of which they believe there are 31 main gang members, are the aggressors in the long-running feud.

They include senior members, street level dealers, runners, robbers and thieves, and junior and peripheral gang members.

Ages range from 16 up to 50.

He said as a result there had been a higher number of the Croxteth Crew arrested compared to the Strand Gang, whose members included 19-year-old Liam Smith, also known as Smigger, who was shot dead on August 23 last year.

The Strand Gang is thought to have about 41 main members, aged 16 to 33.

Since September, 2006, 13 Croxteth Crew gang members have been taken into custody and one has been killed. Seven Strand Gang members are in custody, one has been shot dead and eight have been given Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.

Last week, Croxteth Crew member Liam Duffy, 26, who was described as Mr Smith’s friend and a prominent gang member, was convicted of his manslaughter by a Liverpool Crown Court jury.

It came after fellow gang members Ryan Lloyd, 19, Thomas Forshaw, 18, and a 16-year-old boy were all convicted of Mr Smith’s murder on Thursday.

It is understood that local residents believe Rhys’s murder was a case of mistaken identity and the bullet had been intended for a member of the Croxteth Crew, in retaliation for the murder of Mr Smith.