The growth of a ruthless gang culture which is allowing criminals to escape justice by threatening witnesses is causing police and the Government increasing alarm. In an attempt to stem the problem, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, will outline a series of measures today that aim to undermine the power exerted by criminals to thwart criminal investigations and trials.

There are an estimated 1,000 criminal gangs in England and Wales, with 171 in London. They involve leading criminal figures as well as local street gangs. The major figures are involved in the drugs trade, human trafficking and fraud, according to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Police and local authorities in four key areas where gun and gang crime is greatest - Birmingham, Manchester, Merseyside and London - will be provided with extra money to tackle the problem, Ms Smith will promise.

She will also announce that funding is to be provided for a similar targeted approach to knife crime. The areas to receive the money will be announced after discussions with police about where knife crime is worst.

Ms Smith will also say that police and other criminal justice agencies are to get more training in when and how witnesses should be offered anonymity, reassurance and protection.

Her action follows a series of recommendations from the Home Office’s Tackling Gangs Action Programme which was set up after the murder of the schoolboy Rhys Jones on Merseyside last summer. His was the latest in a number of high-profile murders in recent years where police have found it increasingly difficult to get information from the community. They have been met by silence from potential witnesses, many of whom police believe know the identities of the suspects.

Last month, a case in Yorkshire highlighted the extent of witness intimidation when six suspects in a murder trial were acquitted. Judge Alan Gold-sack condemmed a campaign of intimidation that led to six people being acquitted because witnesses were too scared to testify against them.

The judge said: “It is a very disturbing trend in this city and no doubt others that, where violent offences which result in or were intended to result in death occur, witnesses are increasingly reluctant to do their public duty and come forward.”

Nine people had been charged with the murder of Ismail Rashid, 42, an Iraqi Kurd, who was beaten to death by 20 Asians but six were acquitted because witnesses were too afraid to give evidence.

People brave enough to give evidence in the face of intimidation can be left broken by the experience. Colin, a father of three suffering from Parkinson’s disease, suffered intimidation by youths who made him a prisoner in his own home. He said the threats were terrifying. “They said they were going to knife me, they were going to shoot me and everything,” he said.

Intimidation of witnesses is not confined to crimes of violence but extends to other offences, especially in areas where criminals, criminal families and gangs exert influence and control.

Much of it is linked to the power of “crime barons” and the emergence of a gang culture in major cities. Many of those involved in gang crime are known in their neighbourhood, usually because they live affluent lifestyles but have no visible means of support.

Yet because the authorities are apparently unable to do anything about them, they gain reputations as “untouchables” and are able to influence and exert control, particularly on housing estates. Gang activity in England and Wales is almost always linked to drugs, with members building markets and defending territory.

A Home Office study identified four gang types: close friendships with members who have known each other since school; associates who are not friends but share estates; criminal “crews” who control local drug markets and sometimes carry out armed robberies, and crime networks involved in the control of drug markets in clubs. They flourish in town centres and housing estates.

Other research shows that gangs are based more on territory than ethnicity. White British and black Caribbean males are more likely to be in gangs than Black African and South Asian men.

The Home Office’s Tackling Gangs Action Programme has spent the past six months studying gangs and how to tackle them. John Murphy, deputy chief constable of Merseyside, who headed the work, has made 54 recommendation to tackle the problem.

These are believed to have been broken down into three main areas: catch and convict, protection and prevention and mediation.

One of the key recommendations from Mr Murphy is for better, and earlier, protective measures for witnesses. At a recent violent youth crime conference, Mr Murphy said: “What we’ve been exploring is the possibility of giving investigators right from the outset the ability to give some kind of assurance to witnesses as to how they will be treated in the future criminal justice process and those recommendations are under consideration.”

Crime networks

20% - Of schools in Britain have a perceived problem with gangs

33% - Of youths in South London are present or past gang members

64% - Of youths suffering serious violence in Glasgow said it occurred as a result of entering the territory of a rival gang 500 gang members are believed to be active in Manchester alone

Source: Ofsted, Dispatches, www.scotland.gov.uk, Times archives

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