Appeal by Rhys Jones' family deserves results

Sep 27 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

FIVE weeks after the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones as he walked home from football practice in Croxteth, the anguish of his parents goes on.

Despite saturation coverage in the local and national media, and numerous arrests being made, the teenage gunman is still at large.

That is why the fresh appeal for information on the BBC’s high-profile Crimewatch programme last night could prove vital.

Police hailed the "fantastic" public response to the CCTV footage of the schoolboy’s alleged killer, with 12 callers to the programme identifying the same person.

Officers were also given an important lead about the location of the gun used in the shooting, and have found the driver of a red car which the alleged killer passed in front of near the time of the shooting.

As both Det Supt Dave Kelly, who is leading the murder hunt, and Rhys’s mother Melanie, say, the killer’s relatives, friends or neighbours must know who he is.

So, too, will members of the wider community, and now is the time for them to come forward.

Programmes such as Crimewatch can play an important part in the process of raising awareness among the public, as was proved last night when what could prove to be vitally important information was obtained.

No-one who watched last night’s programme could fail to be moved by Mr and Mrs Jones’s emotional memories of their son – who would have celebrated his 12th birthday today – and their pleas for the killer’s identity to be made known to the police.

Everyone will understand what Mrs Jones means when she says that they cannot rest or try to move on without the person responsible being caught and brought to justice.

For the parents’ sake, first and foremost, and for the community’s, this case needs to be brought to a conclusion with the arrest and conviction of the guilty party.