Trained to maim at age 7
The alarming rise of Britain's 'baby' gangsters
CARVE-UP: Crafty young gangsters use broken CDs instead of knives to slash victims
KIDS as young as SEVEN are slashing their way up the gangland ladder - using shards of broken CDs as vicious weapons.
Young hoodlums use the sharpened plastic to fool cops and avoid being jailed for having a knife, we can reveal.And by aiming blows at victims' arms they can argue they were acting in self-defence.
The alarming new evidence is outlined in a chilling book by Patrick Regan, who has spent almost two decades trying to rescue youngsters from a life of crime. It also reveals how:
- GANG members, including a new group of under-sevens called Babies, are taught how to stab rivals in the BACKSIDE so they need a colostomy bag;
- NEW recruits are ordered to RAPE as part of their initiation;
- THOSE who fear reprisal attacks even wear BULLETPROOF vests beneath school uniform.
Horror
Official estimates which suggest there are 20,000 gang members across the UK hugely under-estimate the problem, says Regan.He was stunned to be told by one community worker in Birmingham: "A gun is easier to get than a mobile phone." The revelations in his book are sure to alarm the new Home Secretary.
Horrifyingly, Regan quotes the chairman of a police advisory body who said: "We'd have had a lot more deaths on our streets if it wasn't for the fact that the youngsters firing the guns are such poor shots."
While shootings remain comparatively rare, police report a 500 PER CENT increase in youngsters taking some form of weapon to school.
One former gang member, rescued by Regan's ground- breaking campaign group XLP which operates across London, explained how his mum gave him this tip: "She recommended I stab the person in the arm in defence and not the stomach, as it's less likely to cause major harm."
John Poyton, director of charity Redthread which works with young crime victims, added: "It appears to be the current trend for people to stab someone in the butt.
"They're not trying to kill their victim but leave them needing a colostomy bag so they have to suffer the degradation of the attack for life."
The report also highlights a worrying increase in girls involved in gangs, as casual sexual partners and "honey traps", drug and weapon handlers.
"The boys would treat us as their bitches, phone whoever they felt like f***ing, order them over, and most girls would drop everything and do whatever was wanted," said one girl ex-gangster.
Regan reveals how a girl will be phoned by a gang member and asked for sex. If she agrees she will then be asked if their "brethren" can join in.
"This they refer to as a line-up, where one girl performs sexual acts on a group of men in turn," he explains.
"Their justification is that if the girl doesn't respect herself why would they respect her?" He adds: "In some cases initiation into a gang involves raping someone first."
Family breakdown has exacerbated the problem. And so-called "Tinies", kids of seven and eight, are increasingly used because they're less likely to be stopped by cops.
"There are now even younger children getting involved known as Babies," says Regan. "Police know of gangs led by a 14-year-old boy."
In London, doubts have been raised over the widespread use of stop and search powers by police. One study showed that, despite 9,437 searches in six months in Southwark, knife crime rose by 8.6%. And last year FOURTEEN youngsters were stabbed to death in the capital.
This week's murder of Nick Pearton, 16, stabbed repeatedly in a playground brawl, brings this year's toll so far to TEN.
Regan's book, published by Hodder & Stoughton next month, tells how in North London police found boys of 13 or 14 who had been stabbed up to FIVE times.
One 15-year-old admitted wearing a bulletproof vest beneath his school uniform. The researcher told Regan: "We found him a mentor but six weeks later he was stabbed when leaving school."
Despite the grim picture he paints, Regan believes the situation is reversible.
In a passionate plea, he concludes: "Rather than being paralysed by the scale of the problem, we need to think about what time and skills we could use to make a difference."
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