imported post
Boy's shooting puts pressure on British PM
Belinda Tasker, London
August 24, 2007
BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown is under mounting pressure to crack down on youth violence after an 11-year-old boy was shot dead in a pub car park.
The boy's death is the latest in a string of killings and gang-related attacks involving knives What? I thought that it was guns that "killed" people. Does this mean a ban on knives is to follow soon? Next you will have to have a permit for kitchen knives and baseball bats and guns across Britain in recent months.
Two teenagers, aged 18 and 14, have been arrested in relation to the fatal shooting of Rhys Jones outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth, Liverpool, last night.
Police said Rhys was shot in the neck by a teenager who rode past him on a bike while the youngster was playing football with two other boys in the pub's car park about 7.30pm.
The teenager was believed to have been wearing a hooded top and fired three shots as he cycled past. One bullet hit Rhys and another struck a car.
Rhys, who was due to start high school next month, had been on his way home from football training when he was shot.
His death is expected to dominate a summit on youth crime being hosted by Mr Brown today. More talk; since that is working SO well, why not just keep talking and let all that hot air coming out of your mouth just continue to cause "global warming".
Police and community workers have been summoned by the Prime Minister for talks about tackling the growing problem of youth violence.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was shocked by Rhys' death. Apparently she doesn't watch the news very often. Murders happen all the time. The Government was determined to work out what was causing the spate of youth crime, she said. The problem is with the people, not the guns, knives, bats, or car antennas. Fix the people, fix the problem. They are taught violence from the TV and pop culture; it is only "natural" to be violent.
Australian soccer star Tim Cahill, who plays for the Everton club, told of his shock at the murder of Rhys, an Everton fan.
The midfielder said it was a "tragic waste of life" and he was praying for Rhys' family. "It's unthinkable that a young kid playing football can end up being killed," Cahill said.
The shooting comes a day after opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron said some parts of Britain were gripped by "anarchy".
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/boys-shooting-puts-pressure-on-british-pm/2007/08/24/1187462445185.html
Another version of the same story:
A bright boy with a wonderful future ahead
By Paul Stokes
Last Updated: 5:57pm BST23/08/2007
He was a bright little boy from a respectable, hard-working family.
[*]Rhys shot on gang murder anniversary
[*]Have your say: Is youth crime out of control?
[*]]http://www.mediaplayer.telegraph.co.uk/?item=4679F746-FBA4-437D-B227-FA27E2462858','tcuk_mediaplayer','width=750,height=600,scrollbars=no')]Video: Shot while playing football[/url]
[*]Map of the shooting Passionate about football and a keen fan of computer games, Rhys Jones had no time for the violent gangs of youths who roamed the streets near to where where he lived - in fact, they scared him.
It was a fear that was to manifest itself in the most brutal and shocking of attacks, and turned him from a happy 11-year old into an innocent victim caught in the crossfire of a criminal feud.
Rhys was mad about football
Rhys should have been starting secondary school in nine days time and had done well in his recent SAT assessments.
His favourite clothing was his blue Everton football club shirt as he went about his innocent pleasures.
But his promising young life was cruelly cut short as he returned from soccer training with two friends a few hundred yards from his home.
His mother was called to the scene of the shooting and as she cradled him repeatedly implored: “Stay with us son.”
Today the blinds at the family’s neat semi-detached home in a close on a smart private estate in Croxteth, Liverpool, were closed and a policewoman on guard outside.
Rhys’s parents Stephen, 44, and Melanie, 41, married 20 years ago after meeting while both working in a supermarket.
They have another son Owen, 16, and the four of them are believed to have recently returned from a holiday together.
Mr Jones had left for his job as night manager at Tesco in Scarisbrook, near Southport, when Rhys’s mother drove him to his training session with the local Fir Tree FC under-11s on Wednesday evening.
His grandmother Doreen Jones, 76, said: “Stephen got a telephone call as he was going into work. He rang me to say Rhys had been shot and was in hospital.
"I expected Rhys to have been shot in the leg or something then I turned on the television and saw that he had died.
"I still can’t believe it, he was such a lovely, beautiful boy. He was football mad and he also loved computer games.
"He was a very quiet child and didn’t really leave the close. It’s a very nice area where they live, but the kids come in from the other estates - it’s getting out of control.
"You’re meant to let your kids out to play, but how can you when this happens to them? It’s terrifying. I don’t know where they get the guns from.”
Rhys had been a pupil at Broad Square Primary School and should have been part of the new September intake at Fazakerley High School near to Croxteth.
Elaine Spencer, headteacher ar Broad Square, said: “Rhys was a really lovely boy who was extremely popular with everyone who knew him. He was friendly, outgoing and mad about football.
"He was also very bright, and had just done very well in his SATs. He had a wonderful future ahead of him and it is absolutely terrible that it seems his life has been cut short because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The school is planning to open a book of condolence and will be offering counselling and support to all pupils who need it when they return next month.
Rhys usually had a lift home from football training with Tony Edge, 40, one of the coaches, who lives nearby, but he had been delayed by his work with the city council on Wednesday.
Instead Mr Edge had to break the news of the shooting to Mrs Jones, who works in a new local Tesco store, after he had been informed by another coach, about an hour after Rhys had left the house.
He drove her to the scene outside the Fir Tree pub and watched as she knelt down to hold her son and speak to him.
Mr Edge said: “Rhys was a great little player, a midfielder and he also played forward. I just can’t get my head around it; he was only walking home from training.
"His mum and dad would come and watch him play football and his mum would give him £10 every time he scored so he always wanted to play up front. He was a very good footballer, he was a lovely kid and funny.
"You can’t mention Rhys in the same breath as gang culture. And Rhys and his friends even stayed away from local teenagers because they scared them.”
Everton Football Club sent their condolences to the family as neighbours also spoke fondly of Rhys who they said was small for his age and had a good sense of humour.
He grew up close to the childhood home of former Everton player Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United and England star.
Five of Rhys’s heartbroken schoolfriends fought back tears as they visited the murder scene to lay flowers, a teddy bear and a floral tribute of the Everton crest.
Daniel O’Brien, wearing a Liverpool shirt, said: “He always had a smile on his face, you would never see him sad. He was a great lad.
"He was there when you were crying and he would cheer you up.
"And in playing football he just picked you back up and would say 'Get in there lad’.”
The boys, accompanied by their mothers, had been all the way through nursery with Rhys and all were due go to the same high school.
Connor Irwin said: “We are all going to miss him. If someone confronted him at school he would just walk away, I don’t think he ever had a fight in our school year.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/23/nshot823.xml
It's so sad, because the world is going about this all wrong trying to do away with violence. What a horrible way to lose your son...
Boy's shooting puts pressure on British PM
Belinda Tasker, London
August 24, 2007
BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown is under mounting pressure to crack down on youth violence after an 11-year-old boy was shot dead in a pub car park.
The boy's death is the latest in a string of killings and gang-related attacks involving knives What? I thought that it was guns that "killed" people. Does this mean a ban on knives is to follow soon? Next you will have to have a permit for kitchen knives and baseball bats and guns across Britain in recent months.
Two teenagers, aged 18 and 14, have been arrested in relation to the fatal shooting of Rhys Jones outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth, Liverpool, last night.
Police said Rhys was shot in the neck by a teenager who rode past him on a bike while the youngster was playing football with two other boys in the pub's car park about 7.30pm.
The teenager was believed to have been wearing a hooded top and fired three shots as he cycled past. One bullet hit Rhys and another struck a car.
Rhys, who was due to start high school next month, had been on his way home from football training when he was shot.
His death is expected to dominate a summit on youth crime being hosted by Mr Brown today. More talk; since that is working SO well, why not just keep talking and let all that hot air coming out of your mouth just continue to cause "global warming".
Police and community workers have been summoned by the Prime Minister for talks about tackling the growing problem of youth violence.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was shocked by Rhys' death. Apparently she doesn't watch the news very often. Murders happen all the time. The Government was determined to work out what was causing the spate of youth crime, she said. The problem is with the people, not the guns, knives, bats, or car antennas. Fix the people, fix the problem. They are taught violence from the TV and pop culture; it is only "natural" to be violent.
Australian soccer star Tim Cahill, who plays for the Everton club, told of his shock at the murder of Rhys, an Everton fan.
The midfielder said it was a "tragic waste of life" and he was praying for Rhys' family. "It's unthinkable that a young kid playing football can end up being killed," Cahill said.
The shooting comes a day after opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron said some parts of Britain were gripped by "anarchy".
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/boys-shooting-puts-pressure-on-british-pm/2007/08/24/1187462445185.html
Another version of the same story:
A bright boy with a wonderful future ahead
By Paul Stokes
Last Updated: 5:57pm BST23/08/2007
He was a bright little boy from a respectable, hard-working family.
[*]Rhys shot on gang murder anniversary
[*]Have your say: Is youth crime out of control?
[*]]http://www.mediaplayer.telegraph.co.uk/?item=4679F746-FBA4-437D-B227-FA27E2462858','tcuk_mediaplayer','width=750,height=600,scrollbars=no')]Video: Shot while playing football[/url]
[*]Map of the shooting Passionate about football and a keen fan of computer games, Rhys Jones had no time for the violent gangs of youths who roamed the streets near to where where he lived - in fact, they scared him.
It was a fear that was to manifest itself in the most brutal and shocking of attacks, and turned him from a happy 11-year old into an innocent victim caught in the crossfire of a criminal feud.
Rhys was mad about football
Rhys should have been starting secondary school in nine days time and had done well in his recent SAT assessments.
His favourite clothing was his blue Everton football club shirt as he went about his innocent pleasures.
But his promising young life was cruelly cut short as he returned from soccer training with two friends a few hundred yards from his home.
His mother was called to the scene of the shooting and as she cradled him repeatedly implored: “Stay with us son.”
Today the blinds at the family’s neat semi-detached home in a close on a smart private estate in Croxteth, Liverpool, were closed and a policewoman on guard outside.
Rhys’s parents Stephen, 44, and Melanie, 41, married 20 years ago after meeting while both working in a supermarket.
They have another son Owen, 16, and the four of them are believed to have recently returned from a holiday together.
Mr Jones had left for his job as night manager at Tesco in Scarisbrook, near Southport, when Rhys’s mother drove him to his training session with the local Fir Tree FC under-11s on Wednesday evening.
His grandmother Doreen Jones, 76, said: “Stephen got a telephone call as he was going into work. He rang me to say Rhys had been shot and was in hospital.
"I expected Rhys to have been shot in the leg or something then I turned on the television and saw that he had died.
"I still can’t believe it, he was such a lovely, beautiful boy. He was football mad and he also loved computer games.
"He was a very quiet child and didn’t really leave the close. It’s a very nice area where they live, but the kids come in from the other estates - it’s getting out of control.
"You’re meant to let your kids out to play, but how can you when this happens to them? It’s terrifying. I don’t know where they get the guns from.”
Rhys had been a pupil at Broad Square Primary School and should have been part of the new September intake at Fazakerley High School near to Croxteth.
Elaine Spencer, headteacher ar Broad Square, said: “Rhys was a really lovely boy who was extremely popular with everyone who knew him. He was friendly, outgoing and mad about football.
"He was also very bright, and had just done very well in his SATs. He had a wonderful future ahead of him and it is absolutely terrible that it seems his life has been cut short because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The school is planning to open a book of condolence and will be offering counselling and support to all pupils who need it when they return next month.
Rhys usually had a lift home from football training with Tony Edge, 40, one of the coaches, who lives nearby, but he had been delayed by his work with the city council on Wednesday.
Instead Mr Edge had to break the news of the shooting to Mrs Jones, who works in a new local Tesco store, after he had been informed by another coach, about an hour after Rhys had left the house.
He drove her to the scene outside the Fir Tree pub and watched as she knelt down to hold her son and speak to him.
Mr Edge said: “Rhys was a great little player, a midfielder and he also played forward. I just can’t get my head around it; he was only walking home from training.
"His mum and dad would come and watch him play football and his mum would give him £10 every time he scored so he always wanted to play up front. He was a very good footballer, he was a lovely kid and funny.
"You can’t mention Rhys in the same breath as gang culture. And Rhys and his friends even stayed away from local teenagers because they scared them.”
Everton Football Club sent their condolences to the family as neighbours also spoke fondly of Rhys who they said was small for his age and had a good sense of humour.
He grew up close to the childhood home of former Everton player Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United and England star.
Five of Rhys’s heartbroken schoolfriends fought back tears as they visited the murder scene to lay flowers, a teddy bear and a floral tribute of the Everton crest.
Daniel O’Brien, wearing a Liverpool shirt, said: “He always had a smile on his face, you would never see him sad. He was a great lad.
"He was there when you were crying and he would cheer you up.
"And in playing football he just picked you back up and would say 'Get in there lad’.”
The boys, accompanied by their mothers, had been all the way through nursery with Rhys and all were due go to the same high school.
Connor Irwin said: “We are all going to miss him. If someone confronted him at school he would just walk away, I don’t think he ever had a fight in our school year.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/23/nshot823.xml
It's so sad, because the world is going about this all wrong trying to do away with violence. What a horrible way to lose your son...
