MERSEY INFANTICIDE - PART 1Inside the Violent Lives of Liverpool’s Eleven-Year-Olds
PHOTOS BY STUART GRIFFITHS
In the northeast of Scouserland, aka Croxteth, Liverpool, there lies a delightful old stately home. About 500 acres of it were made into a country park in 1972 and all through the year, families take day trips there to frolic in the fields, eat ice cream, and have a go on the swings. It’s bloody lovely, it is.
But sadly for the holidaymakers, the area directly surrounding the park is run by a multitude of submachine-gun-firing gangs, the average age of which is around 15 years old. These kids were all busy getting on with their day-to-day trade of shooting each other and supplying the city’s junkies with regular supplies of crack and heroin, all well underneath the public radar, until one of them mistakenly shot an 11-year-old named Rhys Jones in the back of the head during a gang fight just over a year ago.
Soon after, British true-crime author and undercover reporter par excellence Graham Johnson traveled up to Croxteth with photographer Stuart Griffiths to get in good with the children who run these gangs. This is what they came back with.
Vice: Tell us about some of the teenage gang members you met.
Graham Johnson: There’s one kid from the Huyton area. He was in a gang called the Moss Edz. He was 14. Let’s call him John. We talked in his mum’s back kitchen while he was doing the dishes and he told me he’d been involved in over 30 firearms incidents, including shooting at rival gang members, being shot at, and “spraying up” houses with rapid-fire machine guns. He told me how he would avoid getting caught through forensic evidences by burning his “Lowies”—the gang’s all-black uniform of Lowe Alpine mountain gear with all-black Reebok classic trainers and black trapper’s hats. Oh, and they wear ski masks too.
I like it. It’s a strong look.
They also wash their hands in gasoline to get rid of gunpowder traces. He told me all this while eating a dinner made up of Haribo sweets, packs of crisps, a chocolate bar, and a bottle of Lucozade.
Sounds delicious—but not very nutritious. Did you meet any of his friends?
Yeah. The leader of John’s gang was a kid called Lee and he was also 14. I met him with a kid called Kevin who received a gunshot wound in his leg when he was 12. They told me that Kevin’s 17-year-old brother Alfie had just got shot in the arse, then took a taxi to hospital. I met Alfie later that day and when I asked him what it was like to be shot he said he “wasn’t arsed” and that it was normal to be shot.
Why was he shot?
He insulted a local drug dealer’s mum.
And what happened after he got out of the hospital?
They shot a rifle at said local drug dealer’s mum’s house. In response, the drug dealer walked down the street where Alfie, Kevin, and Lee lived and he just shot a semiautomatic into the air and into houses and down the alleyways where the kids sell drugs.
Um, so then the cops came and shot this guy down in the street, right?
Nope. They told me nobody could be bothered to call the police so they left it alone. The drug dealer was connected to a rival gang called the Dovey Edz, from the neighboring Dovecot area, and stuff like this happens all the time. Maybe ten years ago or so it would have been settled with a fistfight or a knife but now the little kids all have access to powerful firearms. You can see it’s true for yourself by going on YouTube. They make videos of themselves carrying guns and driving stolen cars through council estates and set them to rap music. Often the films have messages to rival gangs in them to the effect of “We are going to come and kill you using all of our guns.”
CONTINUED
MERSEY INFANTICIDE | 1 | 2 | >
 Anonymous, on Jun 24, 2009 wrote:
LOl look at those fuckin retards...human garbage all over the world, and these chavs are fucking civil compared to the rest of it. | | Anonymous, on Jun 6, 2009 wrote:
I am from Liverpool and I always steer clear from the north side of the city or Speke as they really are this rough.
There is such a contrast from the north and south of the city though, the south is full of parks and ancient buildings and to be honest, more civilised people. | | Anonymous, on Oct 12, 2008 wrote:
I wonder if the kids in the photo all have their faces covered because there scared that their parents will see this article and take away their pocket money. | | Anonymous, on Oct 10, 2008 wrote:
little scallies are bad enough,,but little scallies with guns!!!!!andy capper knows this skateboarding around liverpool when he was younger!!!!!robbie reid liverpool/philadelphia | | Anonymous, on Oct 9, 2008 wrote:
Graham Johnson? More like Vicky Pollard. | | Anonymous, on Oct 1, 2008 wrote:
just like South Carolina, almost identical. don’t believe me? live here for a couple years. | | Anonymous, on Oct 1, 2008 wrote:
it’s all about camping coats and sportswear.TRU STORIES | | Anonymous, on Sep 30, 2008 wrote:
How about a follow-up article on the good work being done in these communities and the wider city to fight against this kind of stupidity? Thought not.... | | Anonymous, on Sep 29, 2008 wrote:
fukcin hell those lowe alpine hats are 30 quid... i better go and sell some smack if i’m gonna get one | | Anonymous, on Sep 29, 2008 wrote:
Fucking scum the lot of them. Liverpool used to be such a cool, happening place back in the day - a little rough around the edges but not like this.
It’s now the equivalent of taking a massive shit in a petri dish and leaving it in a warm place for a few weeks. Sad, really sad. | | Anonymous, on Sep 29, 2008 wrote:
WHEN THESE FUCKERS GET KILLED THEIR PARENTS WILL BE CRYING (HE WASNT A B AD LAD .KILL THE FUCKING LOT OF THEM | | Anonymous, on Sep 29, 2008 wrote:
i’m from huyton liverpool, its really bad around here, infamous for gangs and sadly the anthony walker killing, if your not from liverpool or these area’s you can’t really judge on what its like, these are young there our lads like 18 - 23 who will kill shoot stab someone just for the reputation. | | Anonymous, on Sep 29, 2008 wrote:
On behalf of the United States I’d like to apologize for this part of our culture. I’m really embarrassed by all this. | | Anonymous, on Sep 28, 2008 wrote:
these photos look staged. | | Anonymous, on Sep 28, 2008 wrote:
wow what a load of toss | | Anonymous, on Sep 28, 2008 wrote:
"It looks like a cross between a war-torn Bosnian village and the set of Escape From New York"
This article is hyperbolic shite from start to finish. The Crocky estate is far from nice, but it’s no worse than your average council estate in London. | |
| A Taipan, on Sep 27, 2008 wrote:
What a foul way of life. I mean economic disparity is reason to be pissed yeah, but pumping hard drugs and ending lives is retarded. Lives gone for pocket change. | | Anonymous, on Sep 27, 2008 wrote:
just little trampy kids trying to act hard. these reporters go in there and believe all theyre told by an illiterate scumbag chav. get a grip. yes there are gangs, and yes there are guns, but dont lets get carried away for fucks sake. | | Anonymous, on Sep 26, 2008 wrote:
The long comment about 10 entries up was far more informative than the actual article. Thank you for that. Your writer know Full all about how to address such a complex and horrifying issue.
| | Anonymous, on Sep 26, 2008 wrote:
who ever said this is made up is a fuckin stupid. | | Anonymous, on Sep 26, 2008 wrote:
this is just based off the panorama, lee is the young gang leader, try download panorama young gunmen, its quite good. | | Anonymous, on Sep 26, 2008 wrote:
Its vice not panorama what were you expecting an informative and contextualised piece about the struggles the disenfranchised youth are faced with living in a shit hole with no prospect of concept of ever leaving it? go watch kes. the pool is what it is and people make the best of what they’ve got, which often isn’t a lot. and for future reference england will NEVER suck as much arse as the states. | | Anonymous, on Sep 26, 2008 wrote:
iik, you know nothing. I’m a scouser, and while I love the city of my birth, there is no way I would walk around in areas mentioned in the above article. Unfortunately it is fairly spot on with the FACTS... | | Anonymous, on Sep 26, 2008 wrote:
Just drop a bomb on the whole of Liverpool. Its all scum anyways!! Sort all the shit out. | | Anonymous, on Sep 26, 2008 wrote:
I’m trying to see how this interview is insensitive or uses humour other than that it’s a straight conversation between a reporter and a guy. anybody else? | | Anonymous, on Sep 26, 2008 wrote:
"black Robin Hood?" Is he meant to be black? | | Anonymous, on Sep 25, 2008 wrote:
HA HAAAAAAA!
Yep, now it’s official, England sucks arse just as much as the US. | | Anonymous, on Sep 25, 2008 wrote:
A horrificly insensitive interview for the most devastating issue. Humour doesn’t come in to something that results in the murders of innocent people. | | Anonymous, on Sep 25, 2008 wrote:
Somebody have to make a movie about Stephen French, what a fucking character! | | Anonymous, on Sep 25, 2008 wrote:
Holy fucking horrible... the gang, the city and the article. Goddamn. Get some remotely professional journalism in there. | | | Next 30 comments > |
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