Ministers to unveil action to tackle gangs

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is to announce on Thursday that witnesses to gun crimes will be offered anonymity as soon as they come forward to police to help target the growing menace of gangs, newspapers reported.

The recommendation is one of more than 50 made by the Home Office's Tackling Gangs Action Programme, headed by Deputy Chief Constable John Murphy, The Times said.

In addition, police in four areas where gun and knife crime is most prolific - London, Manchester, Merseyside and Birmingham - will be given extra cash to tackle the problem, the paper reported.

Meanwhile the Guardian said schools would be encouraged to help tackle a growth in gangs, by screening emails and gathering evidence on students if necessary.

"There is a false dichotomy that schools are there to provide education only, and not for the welfare of the whole child," Beverley Hughes, the children's minister, was quoted as saying.

"If they don't tackle these problems they are going to compromise educational objectives."

The issue of serious youth violence and gangs has become an increasing concern for the authorities.

Last year 26 teenagers were killed in London, nine killed in shooting incidents, and so far this year 13 more have been murdered in the capital alone.

Across the country, there were 566 serious or fatal incidents involving guns, while in London the Metropolitan police estimate there are more than 170 gangs in operation.

Earlier this week, Murphy told a conference of police officers that they were faced with a new type of offender -- young, violent males aged about 14 who had access to guns.

They had filled a gap created when police had success in cracking down on older gang members.

He said there were problems in some cities, insisting there was no "gun crime Britain", but said that a ban on possessing firearms with a mandatory five-year jail sentence had not made any difference.

"It was a well-intentioned piece of legislation but I have to agree (it had not had any effect)," he told the Police Federation conference.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, senior judge Igor Judge said the problem of knives was an "escalating and grave" one.

"In our view it is important for public confidence ... that the man or woman caught in possession of a knife or offensive weapon without reasonable excuse should normally be brought before the courts and prosecuted," he said.

This month, the Met police admitted their attempts to stop knife crime had not solved the problem and launched a campaign of "in your face" policing, searching suspects in areas where young people were thought to be carrying weapons.