Teens and guns

The last of the day's commuters were still trudging home when the hit took place. Around the corner from where Tony Blair once lived, a pedestrian was shot in the leg at point-blank range. The gunmen roared off on a motorbike, leaving their victim haemorrhaging onto the pavement in Queensbridge Road. Last Thursday's attack was never reported in the media. In truth it was nothing extraordinary; just another shooting, another night in Hackney, east London.

Who shot whom remains a mystery, but acting detective chief superintendent Kevin Davis, head of Scotland Yard's Operation Trident, which tackles black-on-black shootings, would be forgiven for deducing the gunmen have yet to celebrate their 20th birthday; they might have yet to finish their GCSEs. For, a fortnight after taking over Trident, Davis has already identified his greatest concern: schoolchildren.

Second biggest headache

Latest intelligence warns of a generation of teenagers who, barely out of primary school, risk becoming immersed in gun crime, an issue that has risen up the agenda to become the second biggest headache for law enforcement agencies after terrorism. This month Trident will launch a new campaign, titled '11-16,' targeting schools and youth groups for the first time.

'We have identified a trend for more teenagers carrying and using guns than ever before. Clearly this situation is unacceptable and a cause for concern. The bottom line is that a small minority of young people think it is more socially and morally acceptable to carry guns,' said Davis.

It is a trend not unique to the capital. New figures reveal that half of all firearm incidents in Manchester, a city where two-and-a-half firearm offences occur on average each day, are committed by men aged between 15 and 20.

In London, shootings are running at almost one a day; fatal shootings at more than two a month. Between April 2005 and last March, officers from Operation Trident and Operation Trafalgar, which targets gun crime in other communities, investigated 343 shootings compared to 246 for the same period 12 months earlier, an increase of more than a third.

But the motives for murder have never seemed more mundane. The frequency of flower-festooned lampposts amid inner city estates is a reminder that life has become terrifyingly cheap in the toughest urban enclaves. Davis blames a new generation of British-born gunmen who have developed a notion of 'disrespect' that justifies shooting over the smallest squabble.

Murders can occur with a sang froid that has stunned the most experienced of homicide detectives. 'Offenders are using firearms over trivial disputes like arguments over spilt drinks, bumping into one another or minor road collisions,' said Davis.

More than 30 firearms offences occur every day, according to latest Home Office figures, with a record 10,990 incidents a year in England and Wales In London eight teenagers have been charged on shooting offences during the past year. Recent cases include a 19-year-old shot in the chest and a 16-year-old who was targeted in a London park.

Links with drugs

When police investigate gun crimes, drugs are usually the first motive they consider. New statistics this week will show that the inextricable link between drugs and firearms is unlikely to disappear in the near future.

The DrugScope annual survey will confirm that overall national street prices for illicit drugs have again fallen, the surest indicator that current government policies are failing to stem the amount of narcotics peddled by gangs. No one knows how many guns are in circulation across Britain. Senior police sources confirm that they are 'easy and quick' to obtain. Whether they rent, borrow or buy, young men have no difficulty getting 'tooled up'. Semi-automatic pistols remain the weapon of choice, although Trident officers admit 'military hardware' has found its way onto the streets.

Missing guns

Elsewhere, thousands of AK-47s from east Europe are reported to have 'gone missing' in Britain. One senior police source admits halting the supply of weaponry into Britain remains a thankless task: 'We suspect a number enter the UK via lorry drivers using secret compartments.

The issue is that we're concentrating on drug and human imports and yet bringing in a handful of guns is, relatively, dead easy.'

Once within the UK, firearms are moved about with ease. Recent tests on one firearm found it had been used in shootings in Bristol, London and Nottingham.

(The Observer.UK)