‘I can’t see it stopping’ – Middlesbrough’s young men on gangs

Inside Hemlington Boxing Club in Middlesbrough, music is drowned out by the sound of gloves hitting pads.

For young men here, nights in the ring are far better than the alternative.

Because outside, away from the bright lights of the gym, riders wearing balaclavas roar past on quad bikes in the darkness.

“You see it all the time,” says Dylan, a 20-year-old who trains at the club.

“But I just can’t see it stopping. The police can’t really do much against it.”

Attention has turned to organised crime in Middlesbrough since seven people, including two police officers, were killed last month in a crash.

A Volkswagen Passat that had been pursued by officers travelled the wrong way along the A66 and collided head-on with a police car.

For young men like Dylan, who knew one of the lads killed, there are worries about how easy it is to get sucked into a criminal way of life.

“You could walk around the corner and there’s just a gang of lads stood there and they shout you over,” he says.

Dylan and other boxers tell BBC Newsbeat they blame a lack of safe activities and opportunities for young people in the area.

He says getting into the sport has kept them away from gangs on the streets.

“It stops you going down these bad tracks of crime, drugs, and what most of the lads my age are doing,” he says.

“It’s just not something I want to be involved in, really,” says Dylan.

“I don’t think anyone would, but some people just get forced down these routes.”

In a report published last month, external, the Centre for Social Justice found that north-east England has the highest rate of NEETs in the UK.

About one in five 16 to 24-year olds from the region is not in education, employment or training.

Dylan works as a joiner and says he’s lucky to have found a job that “keeps you busy and keeps your brain active”.

“I think that’s where it’s going wrong, because people haven’t got anything to do,” he says.

“So they go into [crime], and it just spirals from there.

“I wish it would all stop, but it’s not going to because no-one’s got the answer for it.”