had a lot of free time. I got sucked into the group lifestyle, the street lifestyle Ex-gang member

Last month a report published by Waltham Forest council in north-east London noted schools’ concerns that the word “gang” should not appear in any of their Ofsted inspection reports, and pointed to the high proportion of gang members who had been excluded from school.

A former member of a London gang described to the Guardian how he was excluded and sent to a pupil referral unit at 12.

“I just had one fight, outside of school. We was from the same school. He was severely injured. He said that I stabbed him, but I didn’t. I punched him and his tooth went through his face.

“I was sent to a school for bad kids.a knife may seem completely rational and indeed essential,” said Hales.



Perhaps the most difficult factor to unpick, when attempting to make sense of “senseless” youth violence, was the current influence of UK drill, the rap music that is a cousin of Chicago drill, and whose lyrics not only describe gang warfare, but sometimes include threats and taunts against particular gangs and/or individuals.

A number of rappers have been murdered in London in recent years, and postcode feuds have been fuelled by “diss tracks” posted on YouTube and other sites where they quickly gather thousands of views. The music that 417 recorded at Elwin’s graveside was drill music, for example, and had been viewed almost 50,000 times by the time Aboagye and his friends were jailed for life.

There has been