London gun crime: Gangs fuelling vicious cycle of violence

About one firearm is being seized from London’s streets every day, with gangs fuelling a “vicious cycle of violence, involving money, drugs and firearms”, a Met Police commander has said.

Cdr Paul Brogden said over half of shootings in the capital involve gangs or organised crime, with weapons being used to control territory or threaten those who owed money.

Last month, a nine-year-old girl was left fighting for her life after a motorcyclist fired a number of shots towards a restaurant in Dalston, also injuring three men, aged 26, 37 and 42.

Recent ONS figures showed there had been a rise in overall gun crime in London, from 1,009 offences in the year ending December 2022 to 1,208 offences in the same period last year.

Nevertheless, Cdr Brogden said since March 2023, “lethal barrel discharge”, where a weapon is fired, is at its lowest level in 15 years – down from 196 to 145 recorded incidents over the same period the year before.

Fatal shootings in London have also fallen over the last three years, from 15 homicides to nine last year.

There were 29 homicides by shooting in England and Wales in the year to March 2023, a rise of one on the previous year, according to the ONS.

In Scotland, just three people were killed this way in the same period.

Even so, several incidents over the last couple of years where bystanders have been injured in shootings have caused public concern.

In March, two women were injured by shotgun pellets in Clapham, when a weapon was fired by a moped rider being pursued by police; and in January of last year, four women and two children were hurt when a sawn off shotgun was fired into a crowd of mourners in Euston who had been attending a memorial service.

Referring to the shooting in Dalston, Cdr Brogdan said: “The likelihood of being a victim of gun crime in London is very low, but we do see wholly innocent victims who are caught in the cross fire.”

He explained that criminals were increasingly using converted guns, which were originally designed to fire blanks.

Of the 386 firearms which were recovered in the capital last year, 46% of them were converted weapons.

The blank-firing guns are often sold legitimately to be used in drama productions or farming, but criminals are getting hold of them and illegally converting them into lethal weapons.

Jackie Taylor’s son Tyrese Miller was shot dead in April 2023.

She said: “We need to talk about firearms a lot more. No one’s talking about gun crime. Believe me gun crime is real.”

But although the Met says it is bringing more people to justice for firearms offences with detection rates at their highest in 11 years, almost half of crimes last year did not lead to a prosecution.

Det Supt Tim Mustoe said a key challenge was that many inquiries began with speaking to an injured gang member in hospital, who will not want any involvement with police.

“Fear and a lack of trust can be barriers for people to engage with us,” he said.

Cdr Brogden added that gathering intelligence and building the confidence of communities was an important part of tackling gun crime.

One offender who was jailed last year was 44-year-old Danny Butler.

He was sentenced to 18 years after six guns, along with ammunition and drugs, were found at his home in Lambeth where he lived with his family, including an 18-month-old baby.

Officers say they found three handguns, one of which was loaded, in a children’s clothes drawer, and another handgun and pump action sawn-off shotgun in a cupboard.

Det Supt Victoria Sullivan said when criminals try to hide weapons they often looked for someone who would not come to police attention, and who can be paid or pressurised to aid them.

“They pick vulnerable people within our communities and they take even more advantage of them. It’s really sad to see,” she said.

The Met is currently facing a severe recruitment and funding challenge, which Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has warned is hampering its ability to tackle some crimes such as burglary and robbery.

Earlier this month, he told the London Policing Board the force would prioritise tackling serious violence including violence against women and girls.

It follows reports at the start of this year that homicide teams could face cuts to the number of detectives to address the recruitment shortfall and ensure that the most experienced officers were spread throughout the force.

Nevertheless, Cdr Brogden said there had been no cuts and he was “very happy” with the resources to investigate homicide, adding the teams included “highly experienced detectives”.