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| Mark Clarke at the scene of a murder in 2007 |
Residents in Wandsworth were shocked when Mark Clarke obtained from the police the admission that Wandsworth had seven gangs operating in the Borough. Three of these were actually based in the Borough. These gangs are not harmless groups of kids. The Metropolitan Police defined these Wandsworth gangs as groups “for whom crime and violence is integral”.
Sadly on our streets we have seen the impact of gang violence. Just on our doorstep in 2007 we had the tragic case of the Ernest Bevin pupil, Eugene Attram, who was stabbed to death. We saw the murder of a young man at Chicken Cottage on Upper Tooting Road one night. We also saw the conviction in 2007 of six men, including two Tooting youths, in the vicious gang murder of two brothers on Fircroft Road. Police found at the scene 39 separate weapons including two knives, four bats, three screwdrivers, a hammer, knuckle dusters, metal poles, scissors, a broken bottle and even a menu board from an Indian restaurant.
Our police are working in close partnership with Wandsworth Council and local community groups on these issues. However, while Wandsworth police remain 80 officers down on ten years ago they will always struggle to stay on top of the fight against gang crime. Let us make 2008 a year in which we resource our police sufficiently so that we can properly fight back against gang violence.
Labour have shamefully refused to admit that we have a serious problem with local gangs. This flies in the face of all the evidence, including from the police. Unless we recognise the problem we are not going to be able to properly come to grips with it.