Dying Rhys cradled by his mother

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Tony Edge said Rhys mother Melanie held her son as they waited for an ambulance after he was shot in the neck as he played football with friends outside Fir Tree pub in Croxteth, Liverpool, on Wednesday night.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the killing as a "heinous crime that shocked the whole of the country", and extended his sympathy to Rhys family.

Speaking at Downing Street following a pre-planned summit on youth disorder and gangs, Mr Brown said: "The people responsible will be tracked down, arrested and punished."

Mr Edge, 40, a children's football coach, told how he broke the devastating news of the shooting to Rhys mother and then drove her to the "horrific" scene of the shooting.

The Liverpool City Council worker said: "Melanie grabbed her keys and came in the car with me and we raced to the car park. She went to him, knelt down, held him and spoke to him.

""Rhys' mum was with him and they waited for the ambulance - it seemed to take forever to turn up. I don't know what she was saying to him because I walked away from it."

Mr Edge said there was an issue between two gangs in Croxteth but he claimed Rhys had absolutely nothing to do with them.

He said: "You can't mention Rhys in the same breath as gang culture.

"And Rhys and his friends even stayed away from local teenagers because they scared them. He has been in the wrong place at the wrong time."