Girl gangs as violent than boys, says author (From Croydon Guardian)

Croydon girl gangs as violent than boys, says author Martina Cole

8:50am Wednesday 15th July 2009 in Local news By Harry Miller & Kirsty Whalley

Girls in gangs are just as vicious and equally as violent as boys, a new television documentary has revealed.

This was highlighted last week when 16-year-old Samantha Joseph, along with six Croydon gang members, was jailed for life for her part in the murder of teenager Shakilus Townsend.

Joseph had been part of a ploy to lure the 16-year-old, who had become besotted with her, to a secluded road in Thornton Heath where he was set upon by Joseph’s boyfriend, Shine My Nine member, Danny McLean and five other gang members.

The gang beat him with a baseball bat, kicked him and stabbed him several times – leaving him to die, calling for his mother, in the arms of a resident of Beulah Crescent.

In last week’s Sky One programme, British crime writer and former gangster’s moll Martina Cole visited Croydon to speak to three girls that used to be involved in a girl gang.

The poorly-educated and poorly-spoken young women, now in their 20s, painted a picture about the reality of life in the borough for youths.

The documentary, Martina Cole: Girls in Gangs, highlighted the way in which young women involved with gang members are violated and used a kind of sexual currency.

They are made to hold guns, or straps, as well as knives and drugs for their gangster boyfriends who treat them with little or no respect and drop them as soon as they have served their purpose.

One girl told the programme: “One of our gang members got into a conflict, she was on a bus, she was the victim of another girl gang.

“They got anything they could, and smashed her head in.”

When asked if they retaliated she said: “We done the same thing to them, we brutally beated [sic] them up.”

“I’d say the things I done in gangs is my fault, but who got me there? Society.

“They put kids in a certain area or a certain estate, they don’t have nothing to do. They know crime is going on, so obviously, as I was growing up, I was watching crime on my estate.

When asked why she joined a gang she said: “You feel safe, loved, cared for, cherished.”

• What do you think? Let us know by email here, phone the newsdesk on 020 8330 9555 or leave a comment below.