We must beat the Gangs together

There will be no sympathy for the two young men - Leon Dunkley and Mohammed Smoured - both 22, who will languish behind bars for a minimum of 32 years.

Their cold blooded murder of an innocent young life, Agnes Sina-Inakoju brings anger and sorrow in equal measure: anger at the gangs brutality, sorrow for the parents and friends of Agnes who have to endure a lifetime of such a tragic loss.

This and other recent incidents including the murder of Negus McClean, 15, and the shooting of a five year old girl Thusha Kamaleswaran, in Stockwell, remind us of the difficult challenges all society faces when a tiny minority of very young men, and some women so dramatically lose their moral compass they are able to spray bullets into a crowd, stab another human being in a frenzied group attack and brag about it to friends.

Of course we condemn them unequivocally, but we’d do well to understand their journey to such immoral depths. It is also important to recognise the spirit of communities that are fighting back against the gangs.

The wall of silence that protected gangs for so long is slowly being eroded. The convictions of Dunkley and Smoured could not have occurred unless individuals and communities as a whole were literally prepared to take a stand.

It is a great credit to them that they helped put these men behind bars. We should always remember it is our moral and civic duty to stand up to the cancer of gangs that blights our communities.

There are others too that are fighting back against symptoms of gang mentality. The much maligned Ray Lewis, and his academies who are trying to knock some respect and discipline into young men who’s only sense of belonging was to be found in the brotherhood of gangs.

But on a wider point we must also ask, how is it that 15 year old boys can so readily get their hands on East European weaponry that belonged to military forces. It’s not surprising that some conspiracy theorist argue, ‘they are putting drugs and guns in our communities to that we brutally kill each other’. I don’t subscribe to that view, but it does highlight a complex problem that is clearly connected to international organised crime.

Let's pray for the family of Agnes and Negus and let's hope that young Thusha makes a full recovery.

In these troubling times we as a community must not unnecessarily beat ourselves up as though we were personally to blame. We’re not. This is all society’s problem and we must solve it together.

Simon Woolley

Picture: Leon Dunkley and Mohammed Smoured