Rebekah Sutcliffe, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, has made an emotional appeal direct to the women of Salford to help police solve the abhorrent shooting of 7-year-old Christian Hickey and his mother Jayne in Winton.
At a police press conference in Swinton today, Thursday 15 October, ACC Sutcliffe said that a “wall of silence” still surrounded Monday’s shooting.
Without information from the community, an innocent primary school boy shot on his doorstep by callous thugs will never get justice.
“To those mothers, sisters, daughters, aunties who may have relatives of that age.
“Whatever your experience of the police service, if you are a woman in Salford, I appeal to you to come forward,” said ACC Sutcliffe.
Jayne and her son were shot in the legs at around 9.25pm on Monday 5 October after answering the door of their Gillingham Road home to two men who asked: “Where’s your husband?”
After a short exchange one of the men pulled out a firearm and fired three shots, hitting Jayne in each leg and Christian in his left thigh.
In a statement today Jayne described Christian as a boy who “loves life” and said: “He likes boxing, swimming and football. I really hope he can do this in the future. He is so happy and enjoys school. He is a very popular boy with pupils in his class.”
One of the suspects is described as being 19-20 years old, of chunky build, with stubble and characteristically “slow” speech. The other man, who is thought to have carried out the shooting, is only described as being white and wearing a baseball cap.
Watch: Outrage over Salford horror shootings: ‘City in fear’ demands police response
Police have linked the attack to a dispute between rival gangs in the Swinton and central Salford areas that may have started over 12 months ago with an “incident of disrespect”.
It has escalated since then into a turf war over Salford’s high-income drug trade.
19 people arrested yesterday after heroin and cocaine seizures in Salford and Eccles have all been charged.
Named and shamed: 19 charged with Class A drugs offences after Salford and Eccles raids
“We know the answer lies in the community,” said ACC Sutcliffe.
While forensic teams are still carrying out ballistics testing on the bullet pulled from Christian’s left thigh, it will be testimony – anonymous or not – that will help catch the repugnant shooters.
A shocking picture released today of Christian lying in his hosptial bed provoked fury among the local community.
ACC Sutcliffe said: “I am appealing to all the mothers, grandmothers, aunties and sisters of children in Salford to search your conscience.
“An innocent seven-year-old boy is in a hospital bed after being shot on the doorstep of his own home.
“As a mother myself I can begin to imagine the pain and anguish his mother is going through; no one imagines that their little boy will be shot as they answer the door.
“The shooting will be etched on Christian’s memory forever, and sadly we can’t change what happened to him.
“What we can do is find the people that did this and put a stop to the violence in Salford right now, so no more of our children get hurt.
“To do that, we need you to stand with us and name the men that put Christian in a hospital bed.
“These people are capable of shooting a mum and her little boy, please don’t protect them.”
Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle
The Salford and Trafford Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle, added: “These kinds of crimes are notoriously difficult to prove.
“The women of Salford live with the kinds of people who perpetrated this offence.
“We can’t keep up the level of presence we’ve had in Winton over the past couple of days but PCSOs and officers are working, and will continue to work, within the community to catch these people.
“Call us, write to us, anything.
“We will not stop until we have caught the people who did this.”
Anyone with any information is urged to call Greater Manchester Police’s dedicated information hotline on 0161 856 9775 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
