Families Targeted To Break Power Of Gun Gangs

Families who harbour young men with guns face eviction from their homes and being moved out of their communities under a pioneering police crackdown.

The idea is to be tested in Merseyside as statistics obtained by The Daily Telegraph show that at least 550 teenagers were murdered or unlawfully killed in England and Wales in the past 10 years.

The figures show that the death rate has doubled since Labour’s first year in office. They come only days after a Downing Street summit on gun crime following a spate of teenage gang murders.

Since 1997, more than 500 people aged 20 or under, virtually all young men, have been convicted of murder, with the rate of conviction of young people increasing.

With the confirmation of the deteriorating gun-crime situation, Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Chief Constable of Merseyside, today spells out his plan for eradicating the scourge from towns and cities.

In an article in The Daily Telegraph, he writes: “Teenagers involved in gun crime should be excluded by being sent to prison or other secure accommodation.

“Through strong sentencing and taking these children away from their peers we would make inroads into breaking the vicious circle of gang related gun crime.”

But Mr Hogan-Howe’s most contentious point relates to gang members’ families.

He writes: “When these children come from families where crime is an inherent way of life and the families have been content to harbour those with guns, I think action should be taken to exclude them from their community.

“Once taken away from the community these families should be managed by those agencies involved in the Criminal Justice System and Local Authorities.”

He proposes to force the family to move to a different part of the town or city where they are not known.

A spokesman for the Chief Constable said: “We have to break down their power base; their comfort zone. They would be moved, using existing powers with local authorities such as the right to evict, so they cannot fall back on the support of neighbours.”

Mr Hogan-Howe added: “Families who do nothing to stop their children’s involvement in gun crime put society at risk and could find themselves identifying their child in the morgue.

“Exclusion of these families or supporters of gun criminals is essential so that the rest of the community can feel safe.”

Home Office statistics on murder and manslaughter show there have been about 550 since 1997 when Tony Blair took office.

Of these, 35 victims aged 13 to 19 were killed in 1997-98, whereas the figure for 2005-6 was double that level at 69.

The rate at which teenagers have died violent deaths rose sharply between 1997 and 2000 and has risen steadily.

Separate figures released in Parliament show that 507 people aged 20 or under have been convicted of murder since 1996, 211 of them in the 10-17 age group and 296 aged 18-20.

The findings come at a time of deep concern over the fatal shooting of two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old in London and the disclosure that youths of similar ages have been charged with murder.

The Home Office said: “The Government is committed to reducing knife and gun crime which is why the Home Secretary announced a review of legislation on gangs, guns and knives relating to juveniles.”