Last week, a schoolboy was stabbed during a gang fight in Croydon. He is yet another victim of the growing gang culture that is staining the capital’s streets with young blood.
According to a report by the Metropolitan Police, knife crime in London has soared to a four-year high. The rise in the number of stabbings is rooted in the consolidation of London’s gang culture.
What have been called postcode wars started in Hackney in the early 2000s and since then they have become increasingly widespread for many London boroughs.
‘Splippin’ is the slang term used to describe when someone who belongs to a certain gang walks in a rival gang’s zone. As they run into members of a rival gang, violence escalates.
Eddie Tillyard grew up in a council block in Bethnal Green. Since his schooldays he and his friends have been fighting a postcode war.
One day, however, one of them was stabbed on his doorstep.
“I was hanging with my mates outside my front door” he remembers, “when a group from Hackney came along and started to pull knives.”
“My mate got stabbed six times and luckily he didn’t die, but that’s when I slowed down and I realised they are trying to kill you for nothing.
“You have to be ready to die or ready to kill,” he says.
Urban degeneration, lack of opportunity and cuts to police budgets have all contributed to the escalation of violence in some parts of the city.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has repeatedly expressed concern and has committed to tackle knife crime by announcing £400,000 funding in July aimed to help patrol London’s streets.
It is yet to be seen whether this will be enough to bring to an end gang-related stabbings.
For now, postcode wars remain a daily reality for many kids who come from disadvantaged backgrounds across the capital.
Eddie is now aware of the risks he has taken in the past and managed to get out of the spiral of violence.
For the young ones who could become involved in postcode wars he has a warning:
“You might become the big man in your area, you might make 10,000 pounds a month, but are gonna get caught and you are gonna go to jail, and if you don’t, you are gonna get killed. Think twice before you waste your life.”