73 children on Merseyside arrested over gun crime
Children under the age of 14 been arrested for firearms offences on Merseyside over the past three years.
Children under the age of 14 been arrested for firearms offences on Merseyside over the past three years.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that 1,549 children across the UK were arrested for suspected firearms offences between 2013 and January 2016, with the number of cases jumping by 20% in the past year.
The cases involve weapons such as air rifles, imitation firearms, BB guns and Tasers.
The FOI requests were sent by the Press Association to all police forces in the UK, with 29 forces responding.
Merseyside Police said 16 children were arrested for suspected firearm offences in 2015, compared with 23 in 2014 and 34 in 2013. Another five were detained in January 2016.
One child was charged with a firearm offence in 2015, compared with six in 2014 and seven in 2013. All of the charges were against boys.
Three boys charged were under the age of 14, one was aged 15, four were aged 16 and six were aged 17.
Crimes included nine robbery offences including attempted robbery or conspiracy to commit robbery, six offences of possession of an imitation firearm, three possession of a firearm offences, possession of an air weapon in a public place, sending threats, wounding, false imprisonment, possession of ammunition and obstructing/resisting a constable.
Ian Cameron Swanston's brother was shot dead in Manchester in 1999. He is now a trustee of the charity Mothers Against Violence, which works with young people in communities affected by crime.
He told Sky News that for some young people guns mean status and protection.
"What I’m hearing from young people is that actually I need to protect myself," he said.
"If I'm going out and I know there's something going on there's a sense of it's easier to carry a knife, carry a gun.
"We've created an environment which is quite fearful for young people, they are fearing their own lives, they're seeing it as an answer."
School pupils have also been targeted by gangs who use them to hide money, drugs and weapons.
Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Holland said:
“Merseyside Police works closely with other agencies, including Youth Offending Services, to tackle the reasons young people become involved in crime and to prevent re-offending"
“Matrix officers have also done a lot of work with young people such as the Matrix Schools challenge and Matrix Challenge Shield - initiatives which tackle the issues causing young people to become involved in gangs and crime. “Each policing area within the force has a number of Safer Schools Partnership officers, who are embedded within secondary schools, and are committed to working with partners in education to provide a safe and positive learning environment for young people. These officers work to break down barriers, build up trust with young people and tackle serious issues such as gun crime, knife crime and hate crime.
“The force also has police officers that are seconded to work within the Youth Offending Service. Working together with other criminal justice partners, they deliver a number of activities targeted at young people designed to reduce the risk of them re-offending"
“By engaging with young people at an early stage and diverting them away from crime, we aim to increase life opportunities as well as preventing young people from becoming offenders in the future.”