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Police 'missed scene of shooting' Boy shot for spurning local gangs
(about 3 hours later)
Police officers who were called to a "disturbance" were not told by bystanders that a schoolboy had been shot, an inquest has heard. The mother of murdered schoolboy Jessie James has told the inquest into his death he was killed because he refused to join a gang.
The inquiry into the shooting of Jessie James has heard that a second 999 call alerting police to the incident was made 90 minutes later. Jessie's mother Barbara Reid told Manchester coroner's court her 15-year-old son had been deliberately murdered by the gang.
The 15-year-old was shot and killed as he rode his bike near Broadfield Park in Moss Side, Manchester, in September. She said: "Because they could not stand Jessie's rejection, they killed him".
The inquest is being held at Manchester Crown Court amid tight security. Jessie was fatally shot while cycling near Broadfield Park in Moss Side, Manchester, in September last year.
On Monday, witnesses told the hearing that they had heard several gunshots and one person saw the pistol muzzle flash as the youngster fell to the ground at about 0100 BST on 9 September. The inquest earlier heard an off-duty police officer went back to sleep without alerting authorities after being woken by a witness who claimed to have seen a shooting.
Blood-soaked body Shadow slump
Police received a call reporting a disturbance at a social club only yards from the shooting 15 minutes later. The inquiry heard the caller had told the officer about seeing pistol muzzle flashes and a shadow slump down.
Officers attended the West Indian Sports and Social Club in Manchester's Moss Side and questioned the assistant manager but left after five minutes when they discovered nothing untoward. However, the officer did not report it to colleagues until the morning.
It was one-and-a-half hours later that a second emergency call was made and police came and found the blood-soaked body of the youngster lying beside his bicycle. Barbara Reid says her son was killed for refusing to join a gang
The inquest is being held at Manchester Crown Court and almost all the key witnesses have given evidence from behind screens and over video link with their voices distorted to maintain their anonymity The Witness A, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was hysterical and told the detective, known as Officer A, about the suspected shooting, according to lawyer Pete Weatherby, representing the family.
Officer A denied being given this description and described the account of events as "vague".
Speaking via a video link from behind a screen and with his voice distorted, the officer told the court he had been woken in the middle of the night by the call after taking medication for a chest infection.
The drugs had made him drowsy and had affected his judgment, the officer said.
Scared and hysterical
The inquest heard that the witness was involved with a police operation at the time of the shooting and that the officer had been concerned not to jeopardise the witness's safety.
The witness had been given the officer's mobile phone number and called after seeing the shooting while sat in a car shortly after 0100 BST.
Asked what the caller had told them, the officer said: "At no point did Witness A say anybody had been injured, shot or certainly killed.
If they had said to me anything about witnessing a shooting or somebody being injured or killed I would have called the duty inspector Officer A
"The witness was initially scared. In the first 20 seconds it's possible that the witness was hysterical, I can't recall.
"If they had said to me anything about witnessing a shooting or somebody being injured or killed I would have called the duty inspector."
The inquest was told that officers who were called to a "disturbance" in the area were not told by bystanders that a schoolboy had been shot.
It was one-and-a-half hours later that a second emergency call was made and police came and found the blood-soaked body of the youngster lying beside his bicycle in the early hours of 9 September.
Almost all the key witnesses have given evidence at the inquest from behind screens and over video link with their voices distorted to maintain their anonymity.
The special measures have been introduced to combat the wall of silence police have confronted when trying to question members of the local community about the murder.The special measures have been introduced to combat the wall of silence police have confronted when trying to question members of the local community about the murder.