MURDER detectives probing the killing of schoolboy Rhys Jones believe he may have been the innocent victim of a revenge attack for a previous gangland murder.
As police continue to quiz five teenagers, including two girls, in connection with the 11-year-old's death, they are now quietly confident that they have established a possible motive for the attack.
Rhys was gunned down outside a pub in Liverpoo
l last Wednesday night in a crime which has stunned Britain and once again called into question the government's strategy on tackling firearms.
The murder, in the city's Croxteth district, occurred just hours before the first anniversary of the fatal shooting of Liam "Smigger" Smith, a leading member of a notorious Merseyside gang.
The 19-year-old was shot dead yards from the entrance of Altcourse prison in Liverpool after visiting a friend.
On Friday, three youths were convicted of murdering Smith following a trial which cost an estimated £5m.
Smith headed the Strand Gang, from the Norris Green area of Liverpool, who have been embroiled in a two-year "war" over respect with their rivals, the Croxteth Crew, who come from the same area where Rhys lived.
Last night, one source told Scotland on Sunday: "It is thought there was a confrontation between individuals and Rhys was simply caught in the middle.
"There would appear to be links to this tragedy and the Smith killing."
He added: "The police are publicly saying they are keeping an 'open mind' about the motive for this attack but the Smith killing is now their main line of inquiry.
"It was the anniversary of the murder and the Norris Green mob wanted to take their revenge, it would appear.
"It seems as if one of the factions decided to seek out the others and this is the tragic end result."
So far, the police have not had the response they would have hoped for to their appeals for help, and it is feared that both the Croxteth Crew and the Strand Gang have been threatening and intimidating local people.
However, such has been the reaction to the killing of Rhys that police believe, eventually, the wall of silence will be broken.
One woman, who did not want to be identified, said: "It is getting worse and worse around here. During the day it is not too bad but once the evening arrives the whole area changes.
"The kids start gathering around dusk and they are here to the early hours of the morning. I don't know what their parents think they are doing but they are not doing anything to help the situation.
"No one dares speak to them or confront them. There are gunshots going off every week and to be honest, I am not surprised that this has happened. It is just awful but maybe, maybe some good might come out of it if they finally crack down on these mobs."
She added:
"Something has to be done. This cannot be allowed to continue. An 11-year-old boy is lying dead in a mortuary. Shot by another kid. What is happening to us? The little boy had not even started senior school and that is it, his life is over."
Neither Rhys nor his family had any connection to criminality or gangs and it would appear he was, as his father, Stephen Jones, said, "In the wrong place at the wrong time."
Yesterday, the Fir Tree pub, where Rhys was shot, remained sealed off as forensic teams continued their inquiries.
One of the main lines of their investigation is the CCTV footage which was recovered from the pub's security cameras, although it is not known whether the actual killing has been caught on camera.
The three male suspects arrested in connection with the Rhys inquiry are aged 15, 16 and 19, while the girls are 15 and 18. They were arrested in the Croxteth and Norris Green areas of the city.
Two other teenagers, aged 14 and 18, who were arrested on Thursday evening, have since been released on police bail.
Yesterday, the officer heading the murder inquiry appealed for more witnesses to come forward and help the inquiry.
Chief Superintendent Chris Armitt of Merseyside Police said: "We understand that people are concerned about giving information to the police and we understand that they are frightened because that is natural.
"But what I want to say to them is: 'Listen. You have got to stand up and be counted.'"
Fall in child killings south of the Border
The number of child killings in England and Wales has halved in a decade.
In 1995, there were 63 children aged up to 15 recorded as homicide victims by police, but by 2005-06 - the most up-to-date figures available - the total fell to 31, according to the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS).
The most recent figures available on gun crime in Scotland showed a 20% rise in overall firearms offences, from 974 in 2003-04, to 1,165 the following year.
That included a 400% increase in the number of murders using a firearm, up from two to eight.
Meanwhile, the number of offences in which a gun was fired resulting in death or injury rose by 34% from an all-time low of 242 to 325.
However, this followed a general decrease in gun crime in Scotland since the early 1990s.
There were 1,773 committed with a firearm in 1993, compared to 1,014 in 2002, while at the same time the number of killings fell from eight to three.
Figures for England and Wales show firearms murders rose by 18%, from 49 to 58, between 2005-06 and 2006-07.
'He could have been murdered anywhere'
THE drive from Rhys Jones's house to Goodison Park, the home of the little boy's heroes, takes just under a quarter of an hour.
It was a journey he made every other week with his mother Melanie, father Stephen and brother Owen, all of whom have season tickets at the historic ground.
Yesterday, there was an empty seat where the 11-year-old should have been sitting. The name of Rhys Jones has become the latest to be added to the tragic list of victims of today's increasingly lawless society.
It is often said the people of Liverpool do not care about what the rest of the country thinks of them. To an extent, they are correct.
The city is not Manchester, and does not want to be. What London does is not of any interest to us. Perhaps our closest associations are with the people of Glasgow or possibly Belfast.
But tragedies such as the shooting of Rhys bring an unwanted attention from the outside onto Liverpool.
It was the same in the days after the murder of James Bulger or in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster - the world descended on the city, commenting, generalising and then leaving, normally sneering.
Rhys Jones could have been murdered anywhere. Nottingham, Bradford, Bristol. It just so happens he has been killed in the city which has had more than its fair share of shadows.
I grew up in Liverpool and spent more than a decade as the crime reporter for Merseyside's morning paper, the Daily Post.
People ask: "Where do the guns come from?" In Liverpool, the answer for years has been simple - "lending libraries".
This illegal but lucrative business has blighted the city for years but has traditionally been where Merseyside's criminals have obtained their guns.
For a £200 fee, you could 'borrow' a Russian-made Tokarev, smuggled back into the UK following the fall of the Berlin Wall. If you did not use the gun, it could be returned gratis, but if it was discharged or lost, a further £500 would be levied.
But today, the flood of guns which has swept through the UK has led to a situation where anyone, amongst them teenagers, can get hold of a gun - so long as they know who to ask.
One youth yesterday said: "You can get one for a few hundred quid and, unlike years ago, this time it is yours to keep. They can be left in bushes or at your girl's house and picked up when it is required."
The long-barreled, black handgun which the youth who gunned Rhys down used has not been found yet, but there are dozens more available across the city.
When I started out as a reporter on Merseyside, more than a decade and a half ago, a shooting was a major story. Today they are virtually a weekly occurrence.
Sadly, it is almost inevitable that Rhys Jones will not be the last young victim of this plague.
The full article contains 1468 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
