Crime fighting groups last night described the ride-by shooting of an 11-year-old boy as a new low for youth crime.

Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: “This has surely pushed Britain to a turning point or to the point of no return.

“The public, police, Government and judiciary all blame each other for the problems we are all responsible for.

“We have now got to wake up and work together to take back the cities, towns and villages that are controlled by those who carry and use guns and knives or act criminally or antisocially, or these senseless child murders will become an unacceptable norm on the streets of Britain.”

How worried should we be about gun crime?

Serious gun crime is concentrated in particular parts of England; internationally, the country has a low death rate from guns

BACKGROUND

• Factfile: teenagers gunned down across UK

• Three murders in four days in South London

• We Shall Overcome, protesters sing at peace vigil

The campaign group Mothers Against Guns described the shooting as “horrendous” and said it was time that the problem of gun crime was addressed in the community.

A spokesman said: “It is horrendous for such a young boy to be taken like this. Young people don’t seem to understand that they’re destroying each other. Two families have been destroyed by that shot tonight. No mother brings up her child to go out and murder someone.

“We need to work at this problem from grassroots level so that young people stay clear of gangs. These things tend to end with someone’s life being taken.

“A lot of young people see these things on the news and they think it’s happening somewhere else — it’s not until it hits their doorstep that it affects them. But it affects everyone, everywhere.”

The litany of young victims of violent crime has horrified police and public alike. Jessie James, 15, was shot dead in a park in the tough Moss Side district of Manchester. James Andre Smartt-Ford, 16, of New Malden, Surrey, died after being shot at Streatham. Three days later Michael Dosunmu, of Peckham, South London, was shot dead by gunmen who broke into his home just days after he had celebrated his 15th birthday.

On Valentine’s Day Billy Cox, 15, was shot dead on the doorstep of his home in Clapham, South London. Martin Dinnegan, 14, was stabbed in Islington, North London. Three males have been charged with murder. Sam Brown, a schoolboy aged 16, was stabbed to death on a council estate in Blackpool in May.

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