BRITAIN:Locals tell of swaggering youngsters acting as if they were mini-gangsters, writes Mary Fitzgeraldin Liverpool
The YouTube clip opens to a thumping rap track called Thug Muzik. But while the lyrics speak of life in the projects of urban America, the grainy film shows the run-down streets of Croxteth, one of Liverpool's most deprived suburbs. Spliced with footage of pit-bull terriers straining at the leash and youths doing wheelies on scramble bikes are shots of weapons including a sawn-off shotgun, a revolver with its chamber open and a handgun with an ammunition clip.
The clip is labelled "Croxteth Heds", a reference to a gang from the bleak estate where footballer Wayne Rooney grew up in a terraced house just down the street from a boarded-up pub called the Dog and Gun. Everyone in this corner of northern Liverpool has heard of the Crocky and Nogzy gangs - otherwise known as the Croxteth Heds/Crew and its rival, the Strand Crew.
Callers to Liverpool's local radio stations this week told of swaggering youngsters gathering at street corners or outside shops, intimidating residents.
"They're full of attitude and act like mini-gangsters, but the trouble is some of them know how to get their hands on guns," said one man.
At 11, Rhys Jones was perhaps too young to know much about the two gangs from the housing estates that border his home in Croxteth Park, the tree-lined suburban development where residents have always been quick to distance themselves from "the other Croxteth".
On Wednesday evening, Rhys died after he was shot in the neck - killed, many locals believe, in the crossfire of feuding gangs.
"Not that far away from here, you have some pretty rough areas," said Tony Larkin, a local taxi driver who has had his cab stoned by youths in the other estates. "Of course you're going to have gangs bumping into each other there, but who would come here and shoot a child of 11?"
Rhys was killed just hours before the anniversary of the murder of Liam Smith (19), an alleged Strand Crew member from the neighbouring Norris Green estate.
Smith was shot in the head with a sawn-off shotgun last year. Three teenagers were convicted of his murder on Thursday.
The prosecution alleged the shooting was linked to a feud between the Strand Crew and its Croxteth counterpart dating back to 2004. On at least 17 occasions, shots were exchanged between the two gangs, the court was told.
Noting the timing of Rhys's death, a number of locals have speculated that it may have been linked to Liam Smith and the rival gangs - the 11-year-old, an innocent victim, perhaps killed as a warning.
Others talked about growing disquiet over antisocial behaviour around the pub and shops near where Rhys was shot. Last year dispersal orders were issued for the area, allowing police to move on groups of troublesome youngsters.
"The wrong kind of crowd was coming in from outside the estate," said one teenage girl from Croxteth Park. "It had nothing to do with locals."
Police believe the person who shot Rhys was between 13 and 15 years old, raising questions about how easy it is for teenagers to get their hands on guns in Liverpool.
A recent Home Office report drawing on prison interviews with 80 convicted gun criminals, aged between 18 and 30, found that illegal weapons are most readily available in Liverpool and Manchester.
In February Merseyside chief constable Bernard Hogan-Howe warned of the growing number of teenagers involved in gun crime.
"You're talking about kids no older than 17 or 18 who want to look big and bad with a gun in their hand," said Paula Ogungboro, who set up a Liverpool branch of the pressure group, Mothers Against Guns, after her son was shot dead more than three years ago. "They seem to have no problem getting guns. We need to find out why it is so easy and do something about it."
Two years ago Merseyside police launched Operation Matrix to tackle the gun problem. Curfews were imposed, weapons seized and dozens of arrests made.
But the police can only do so much, said Bishop David Jones of Liverpool. "People need to come together and tackle this as a community effort," he said. "Gun crime is endemic in our society and the death of this boy tragically shows that nowhere is completely safe from it."