Gangs behind a quarter of violent crime: 4,800 'soljas' in London blamed for rapes, murders and shootings

• 158 arrests as 1,300 officers are involved in gang raids across the capital
• Gang members are stuck on a 'conveyer belt of crime', says Met Police Assistant Commissioner
  
• Half a kilo of heroin, crack cocaine and cash are seized
• 1,000 officers dedicated to tackling gang crime, they announce today
• 250 active gangs across London with some members aged as young as 14
  

By Rebecca Camber

Last updated at 12:35 AM on 9th February 2012

Scotland Yard declared war on gangs yesterday as it emerged they are responsible for half of London’s shootings and one in seven rapes.

Police said 4,800 gangsters were to blame for almost a quarter of the capital’s serious violence, a sixth of all robberies, 16 per cent of the drug trade and 20 per cent of stabbings.

The figures came as the Met unveiled a £60million taskforce to crack down on the problem.

Raid: Metropolitan Police officers prepare to enter an address in east London this morning as they launch a crackdown on gang members

New Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe is expanding the existing  Trident squad, increasing its remit from probing shootings in the black community to all gangs.

The force is also doubling the number of officers dedicated to gang crime from 450 to 1,000.

Police are aware of 435 ‘crews’ operating in London, but only 250 are criminally active.

Of those, 62 are categorised as posing a risk of ‘high harm’ and are estimated to be behind two thirds of gang-related offences.

According to the crime figures, 480 rapes or 14 per cent of the 3,431 sex attacks in London every year are carried out by known gang members.

Crackdown: Scotland Yard have almost doubled the number of officers tackling gang crime. This morning they carried out 144 raids across the capital

Raid: A police officer emerges from a house in east London which was raided by the Metropolitan Police this morning

Crackdown: Mayor Boris Johnson with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe in Trafalgar Square today as Scotland Yard launch their new Gang Crime Command

They also account for 22 per cent of serious violence, 20 per cent of stabbings and 247 out of the 547 shootings during 2011.

More than 6,200 personal robberies and 40 per cent of all commercial premises and ‘cash in transit’  thefts can also be traced back to the 4,800 criminals.

And they have been blamed for 26 per cent of aggravated burglary and 12 per cent of residential burglaries, which is equivalent to 7,650 break-ins a year.

Some of the criminals responsible are as young as 14, with a third of those shot aged under 19.

Do not cross: Mr Johnson and Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe launch the Trident Gang Crime Command which marks what senior officers have described as a 'step change' in the way the force tackles gangs

Statistics show that 84 per cent of gang members are under 24 and two-thirds of those are black males. Detectives believe the number of girls joining gangs is rising, although they only represent 5 per cent of offenders.

Between 2008 and 2010, the victims of London shootings hailed from 53 different countries.

Yesterday, as officers arrested 213 suspects in a series of raids, the Met announced it would be working with the UK Border Agency to deport any foreign gang members.

The Commissioner pledged to use ‘all tactics, if legal and ethical’, to tackle the problem.

His new squad will draw officers from other specialist units, including the Flying Squad and homicide.

Mr Hogan-Howe said: ‘This is a step change in how we tackle gang crime in London. It will allow us to identify and relentlessly pursue the most harmful gangs and gang members.

‘We want to prevent young people getting involved in gang offending so we and other agencies are offering ways out to support young people.

‘However, those who refuse our offer of help will be pursued and brought to justice.’

'BAD THINGS CATCH UP WITH THE BAD GUYS': BROTHER OF SCHOOLGIRL GUNNED DOWN IN A TAKEAWAY URGES GANGS TO STOP THE KILLING

Gang victim: Agnes Sina-Inakoju who was buying a takeaway pizza when she was killed

The brother of a schoolgirl gunned down in a takeaway has urged gang members to help prevent more deaths by coming forward with information.

Agnes Sina-Inakoju, 16, who dreamed of going to Oxford University, was the innocent victim of a gang feud.

She was going to buy pizza from a takeaway in Hoxton, east London, in April 2010 when she was killed.

Leon Dunkley and Mohammed Smoured, members of the London Fields gang, decided to target the shop believing members of the rival Hoxton Boys would be there. Instead, she was shot dead.

Her brother Abiola Adesina, 33, said: 'In movies the bad things always catch up with the bad guys. They live life fine for a few years. People in gangs should be asked whether they want this.

'Do they want to live fine for a few years and then be destroyed for the rest of their life or killed?

'Do they actually think about their friends, their family, their parents? Do they know what effect that will have on them?

'Children learn their boundaries as they grow. They will do things once and, if you don’t stop them, they’ll do it again.'

Describing the moment he found out about his sister’s death, Mr Adesina said: 'I was watching TV and I heard on the news that someone had been shot in Hoxton and the first thing that came into my head was "oh my god, that was very close to my house".

Convicted: Leon Dunkley (left) and Mohammed Smoured who were jailed for life for the murder of Agnes Sina-Inakoju

'There were no pictures or names ... then a few minutes later someone called me and said, "I’m sorry about your sister".

'My mum hadn’t called me to tell me the news straight away. We were told she was going to be fine.'

Agnes, who would have turned 18 this September, was taken to hospital but died two days later.

Last year, gunman Dunkley, 22, and look-out Smoured, 21, were jailed for life with minimum terms of 32 years each for her murder.

A third gang member was spared jail after he gave key evidence against the killers.

Judge Peter Beaumont, the Recorder of London, said that in the 'exceptional' circumstances he would instead make a three-year youth rehabilitation order despite the youngster admitting gun and drug offences.

He said if jurors had not believed the witness’s evidence 'those men would not be serving the sentences that they are today'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098265/Gang-Britain-Police...