Everton hosts appeal for 11-year-old's killing

LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) Police will ask 37,000 football fans at Everton's Goodison Park ground today for help in finding the killer of 11-year-old Rhys Jones.

The football-loving schoolboy was a season ticket holder at the Premier League club with his father Stephen and brother Owen, who are both expected to attend the match in his honour.

''They have said it is what Rhys would have wanted,'' a Merseyside Police spokeswoman said.

Police will make an appeal for information over the public address system at half-time during the game against Blackburn Rovers as Rhys's picture is shown on the ground's big screen.

''It's a lot of people with lot of eyes and a lot of ears to help us,'' the police spokeswoman said.

Rhys was shot in the neck as he walked home from football training with friends in Liverpool's Croxteth area on Wednesday.

The shooting was the latest in a spate of murders of young people across Britain this year that have focused attention on gang-related violence.

Yesterday police arrested a 16-year-old male youth on suspicion of Rhys's murder. Two other boys, aged 14 and 18, held in connection with the killing, have been released on bail.

Assistant Chief Constable Patricia Gallan has said the key to solving the case lies within the local community, adding that she was disappointed by the public's response so far.

A minute's silence is also planned during Saturday's game, though his family have asked for a minute's clapping as a celebration of their son's life.

Rhys's mother Melanie Jones, who cradled her son in her arms as he lay dying, has made an emotional appeal for help in finding his killer.

''Our son was only 11, only a baby -- this should not happen, this should not be going on. Please help us,'' she said.

Detectives say they are looking for a slim white boy aged between 13 and 15, who was riding a black BMX bicycle and wearing a dark hooded top and white trainers.

They believe the murder weapon was a long-barrelled handgun.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the killing a ''heinous crime that shocked the whole of the country''.

Yesterday Home Secretary Jacqui Smith asked the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to conduct a review of gun control to reduce the availability of illegal firearms.

''The vast majority of our young people are law-abiding and most of us are fortunate enough to live in safe and secure neighbourhoods,'' said ACPO President Ken Jones.

''But a minority of our children do not live in safety and security which is their right. We must, all of us, now grip this problem and change things for the better,'' he added.

REUTERS AK BST0742