Primary pupils made to carry guns by gangs

 
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A Parliamentary inquiry has been warned that London primary school pupils are being made to carry guns as an increasing number of young children become caught up in gangs.

Sheldon Thomas, a former gang member from Brixton, said that 10-year-olds were “holding weapons” for older offenders.

Appearing before the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, he said London’s gangs problem was “getting worse” and told MPs that his evidence indicated there were now 11,000 gang members in the capital.

He claimed the Met, which recently revealed it has 3,484 gang members logged on its database, did not “have a full understanding” of the problem.

Mr Thomas said: “Today a 27-year-old will give a 10-year-old a gun.

“We have right now in certain boroughs in east London and south London kids in primary schools who are not only selling drugs, but holding weapons. One of the reasons is because they don’t get stopped and searched as regularly as a 13 or 14-year-old black and ethnic minority kid.”

Mr Thomas, who runs a charity called Gangsline seeking to help gang members escape crime, also warned of a large rise in the number of African-born children involved in London gangs.

He said this had been “completely under-estimated”, adding: “You have a child from Somalia, you have a child from Nigeria, from Sierra Leone — these countries have wars, civil unrest.

“We have young men that don’t care about the society they are in because of where they come from.”

He said one reason for the lack of knowledge on gangs was the absence of people from affected communities among those advising on the issue.

The Home Affairs Committee has begun a new probe into gang violence. Chairman Keith Vaz warned the public would be shocked by recent “very serious” figures showing 20 people a week were being stabbed or shot in London, with most victims aged under 25.

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