Text hope for New Year murders

The teenage victims were killed in a hail of bullets

Police investigating the murder of two teenage friends who were gunned down outside a New Year party are turning to text messaging in the hunt for their killers.

Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare are believed to have been caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rival gangs in Aston in Birmingham on 2 January.

The girls were killed in an attack in which police say more than 30 shots were fired and at least two weapons, including a sub-machine gun, were used.

West Midlands Police will launch the text message service on Tuesday in an attempt to encourage witnesses with information to come forward, without fears for their own anonymity and safety.

The number - 078 999 335 44 - is also designed for people in Aston and the surrounding area to report other gun crime, a problem that has escalated locally over the last 12 months.

Pressure on witnesses

If the scheme proves successful it is likely to be expanded to the rest of the West Midlands force area.

Detective Inspector Adrian Atherley said: "The new text messaging service means witnesses can simply key in any information they want to tell us about and press a button.

"We appreciate the pressure which witnesses often face in coming forward to the police, especially those involved in serious cases.

"Texting is a discreet, simple way of getting in touch with us to provide information."

He said the service could also prove useful in cases where victims or witnesses may feel vulnerable, such as domestic violence cases or missing persons.

A text messaging service was used in the West Midlands in April when officers issued photographs of alleged football hooligans.

On that occasion they received two messages giving details of suspects.

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hyde said: "We hope this pilot text messaging will be valuable, especially to witnesses who may feel vulnerable and reluctant to contact us in any other way."