Despite the recent media outrage, these deaths are not a new phenomenon. In 1993, 14-year-old Benji Stanley was gunned down in Manchester's Moss Side. More recent high-profile cases include the shootings of Danielle Beccan, 14, in Nottingham, Latisha Shakespeare, 17, in Birmingham and 15-year-old Jessie James, also in Moss Side.
In response to the latest attacks, Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised tougher legislation for carrying a weapon, while Tory leader David Cameron wants to compel absent fathers to be involved in their children's upbringing.
Initiatives such as London's Operation Trident and the Connected Fund have also been set up to tackle the gun and gang problem. But while such programmes appear to have been successful with adults - in 2005-06 the number of gun murders fell by more than a third from 78 to 50 - anecdotal evidence suggests young people are increasingly willing to use weapons.
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