'I get nightmares': Hard-hitting documentary reveals impact of region's teenage knife crime

They're the words of a 15-year-old girl featured in a new Channel 4 documentary exploring real-life stories behind the worrying statistics that show the scale of knife and gang crime involving teenagers in the West Midlands.

Trapped in a Gang is the latest instalment of Untold, a documentary series that reflects the lives of young people.

According to those behind the documentary, Freedom of Information requests have shown that last year West Midlands Police saw a 54 per cent increase in under 16s being arrested for knife crime compared to 2020, and 379 under 18s have been arrested in the region for knife crime or possession - a number which is more than double than that of five years ago.

They've also reported that in the year to May there were 836 knife crime victims under 16 recorded by West Midlands Police.

Trapped in a Gang follows some of those stuck in gang life as the West Midlands Police Gangs Unit and St Giles Trust - a charity that helps people with issues such as exploitation, abuse and being caught up in crime - triy to help them make the right choices.

The documentary makers speak to one 15-year-old called El, not her real name.

As well as explaining why she fights and how she enjoys it, she shows a lack of concern about the risk she faces.

“My friends they have been stabbed quite severely but they still survived. So, I’m thinking if they survived, I can surviv," she said.

El is being supported by St Giles Trust, and the film charts her journey as they try to direct her away from violence.

The filmmakers also speak to someone who has been targeted by the gangs.

Kay, not his real name, was viciously assaulted by a gang of boys who shared the beating online. He's now suffering from PTSD and struggling to come to terms with what happened.

“I get nightmares from what happened,” the 15-year-old said. “I get scared thinking people are going to jump out on me.”

For Sergeant Toney Webb from West Midlands Police Gangs Unit, such violence has become ever more prevalent.

“The amount of young children that you see turning up at hospital with gunshot injuries or knife wounds or get arrested carrying machetes or zombie knives it’s just ridiculous," he said.

Sgt Webb is followed by cameras as he takes a different approach to policing urban street gangs. He added: “There’s a perception that all we do is try and arrest people and put them in prison. Arresting our way out of this is not going to solve the problem."

Police records of violence in the West Midlands have risen consistently in the last five years – every day on average there are over 400 violent crimes.

Earlier this week data showed how the West Midlands has the highest number of knife crime incidents outside of London.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Thursday West Midlands Police recorded 4,958 offences between July last year to June this year.

It comes as the region continues to be plagued by violent crime, with 16-year-old Ronan Kanda and 15-year-old Zane Smart being fatally stabbed in separate incidents in Wolverhampton earlier this year – prompting calls for police to act.

Other recent incidents have seen people wielding weapons, including machetes, across the Black Country – whilst a 14-year-old boy was stabbed at an academy in Walsall earlier this month.

In Trapped by a Gang, viewers see JJ, another assault victim. His salvation has come from finding religion.

However, it’s not been a straight road to redemption with him slipping back into drug dealing to make money to impress a girl.

“I wanted to do so much to try and impress her. I was selling drugs – weed – then we went into cocaine cuz that’s the only thing that’s going to go pricey and make money,” he said. The film follows JJ as he tries to make the right choices, balancing the need for money against a future that is gang free.

Untold: Trapped in a Gang is available to watch on All 4 from Monday, October 31.