As yet another shooting leaves an 11-year-old dead in Liverpool, former Durham firearms officer David Blackie explores why the Government needs to tackle Britain's spiralling gun crime.

WE are reaping the harvest of those prophetic words of the Bob Dylan song, 'I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children'. It is a reality on our streets; this is not the sad tale of child soldiers in West Africa, it is our children who are the aggressors and the victims, dying for absolutely nothing at all.

On Wednesday evening, an 11-year-old child, Rhys Jones, was shot in Croxteth, Liverpool and died from his wounds - the victim of a ride-by shooting on a BMX bike. A youth of 18, barely an adult, and another child of 14 have been arrested in connection with a crime which is beyond any comprehension.

Yet this kind of serious crime is becoming all too common. On the same day, a few hours later, in Elswick, Newcastle, another 17 year old was the victim of a stabbing involving a 16 and a 14 year old. On June 9, 15-year-old Alex Mulumbu was stabbed to death in Lambeth by a gang of youths. On September 9 last year, 15-year-old Jessie James was shot while riding his bicycle through a park in Moss Side in Manchester. His crime: defying peer pressure to join the gangland culture prevalent in the city.

We have urban child soldiers, wearing body armour, roaming our streets demanding 'respect' and settling petty disputes with knives or guns. More than five per cent of all firearms-related injuries treated by hospitals last year were suffered by under 16s - a frightening statistic and a bad omen for the future. Often, there is no obvious underlying cause, as in the case of Rhys, but it is merely a demonstration of misplaced juvenile machismo.

Tony Blair had a Cabinet summit on gun crime in February, the present Prime Minister held another yesterday to discuss the escalating problem of gangs and youth crime. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said yesterday: "We are really serious about looking at what more we can do."

She talks of focus groups, of dialogue and engagement and wants to see greater use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts - voluntary agreements under which offenders agree to mend their behaviour or face a more serious punishment. Tell this to the grieving family of Rhys Jones. The time for holding summits and talking about causes is over; we must start to deal with the consequences, and do so firmly.

Politicians talk glibly of the responsibility of schools and the break-down of the family as underlying causes, but do little to remove the constraints which have been placed upon the police and the courts to allow them a freedom to take decisive action against this scourge of violence.

Over the last 30 years, the primary functions of the police have been corrupted. No longer does it appear that the protection of life and property, the maintenance of order, the prevention and detection of crime and the prosecution of offenders against the peace are the key concerns of the police. These have been replaced by the role of community social worker, the bean counter of political targets and accountability, the arbiter of political correctness and the guardian of human rights.

It is a relief to see that the Chief Constable of Cleveland, Sean Price, is to put more policemen on the streets to weed out the 'bad men', although the 'zero tolerance' promoted by former 'Robocop', Ray Mallon is more what public opinion is vociferously demanding.

"Give the police more powers" is the knee-jerk reaction when there is any suggestion of a break down of law and order. They do not need any more powers, just the support and confidence to enforce them. There are too many hurdles to jump through before the offenders even reach the court system, such as the Crown Prosecution Service Charging Standards, and too many restrictions on sentencing for magistrates and judges from the Lord Chancellor and his Department of Justice and the Sentencing Guidelines Council and Panel. We should return to the police and the judiciary the power of discretion and reduce the over-burdening administration and bureaucracy.

Numerous theories of punishment have been advanced over the years, notably deterrence, rehabilitation and retribution. Successive governments have regarded various of these theories as being more influential than the others, but the failure to adopt a single principled approach to sentencing has now become a matter of real concern. The Criminal Justice Act 1991 favoured retribution, that criminals should get their 'just deserts'. The 2003 version is far more watered down, referring to the need, in addition to punishment, for a reduction in crime, reform and rehabilitation, the protection of the public and the making of reparation to those affected by crime. Even with the judgement of Solomon, it is difficult to see how a court can effectively apply each appropriately and consistently when sentencing.

Even when offenders have been given custodial sentences there are the inevitable whinges from government over prison overcrowding and expenditure. Perhaps the regimes of prison could bear some re-evaluation with their costly and over sensitive education systems, the privileges of televisions in cells and the over emphasis on prisoners' rights. What right can anyone have to take away the life of an 11-year-old boy and what rights does that perpetrator deserve?

There have been amnesties for guns and knives many times before but now, more than ever, society needs to rid them from our streets. Let us again see a national amnesty, but let the Government leave in no doubt those who seek to retain their weapons that they will suffer the maximum penalty which the law allows.

Give back to the police and the courts the assurance that they will have the support of government and the public to arrest and sentence effectively. Allow them to help us to reclaim our communities, street by street, estate by estate, town by town and city by city. Let us talk of consequences not of causes. Let it be known that society will no longer tolerate a gun culture, a gang culture or a yob culture.

If we fail in this now, while we still might have a chance, it will be a hard road back.

David Blackie was a member of the firearms team that attended the fatal shooting by Albert Dryden of Teesdale planning officer Harry Collinson at Butsfield, Consett, in 1991. He has since written a book about the case.