Danny Regan who died 2002 to gun crime

The spread of gun crime across UK cities is being called a ‘cancer’ by one newspaper.  We may think the media are exaggerating because it sells but when you actually start taking note of how many incidents are happening involving guns and other weapons, it’s frightening.

In the last 10 years gun crime has more than doubled in the UK and is often linked to the rise in the profitable crack cocaine business.  But it’s not just in poorer areas where individuals and gangs are carrying weapons; the problems are spreading into many areas of our lives, even our schools. Whether guns, knives or other weapons, more of us carrying them means more people wounded and dead, more going to prison and more families suffering.

I spoke to Pat Regan, founder of Leeds group Mothers against Violence (MAV), about the death of her son to gun crime and what she hopes to achieve by talking to young people in schools. Pat was inspired to form MAV 8 months after her son Danny was gunned down on his doorstep in 2002.  After meeting with other mothers who had begun something similar in their community she gained the strength to speak out. Since then this normal mother of 5 has had an incredible impact on highlighting the reality of gun and knife crime to young people and communities in Sheffield and Leeds. This is what Pat had to tell me…

(Listen to the audio interview at Cube radio)

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Were you aware of the fact that Danny dealt drugs and did you ever try to talk him into stopping?
Yes, when he was 18 and not living at home we knew he was selling weed.  To be totally honest I didn’t like it but it didn’t faze me too much as we grew as Rastafarians.  Then started getting associates into violence and hard drugs and yes I did try stopping him. But how do you tell a 20 year old who doesn’t live at home?  He knew the consequences, he knew the fear we were living in because of his lifestyle, but as with a lot of young men, it’s easy to get into it, hard to get out.  All they can see is flashy cars, girls and money.  He was more pulled to that than listening to his mum.

Why do you think Danny accepted he was going to get killed?
He’d have awful dreams about being shot and I know he was scared.  I’ve seen him cry for the fact that he couldn’t go anywhere with his two children. 
What happens with these young people is, they might start making a few 100 and that goes into thousands quickly.  Because the money is so lucrative there’s no trust.  You can go in there with your best friend and he might be the person who sets you up to get robbed or murdered.  Danny knew that lifestyle. If it can turn even some officials and police officers, then what hope have our kids got who never had the chance to make anything of their lives?  What I say to all these youngsters.  You want to play with knives, drugs and guns, be prepared to die or be going to jail for a very long time.  There are no success stories.  These guys, when they’ve made their money they will have to pack up and move away cos there’s no getting out, you’re always beholden to someone. 

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Tell us about the other side of Danny?
He’s in my mind all the time. I saw his picture on the landing this morning and I just thought, Danny, where’s that personality? He was such a happy go lucky lad, a charmer.  If he came in here he’d have you all really laughing.  But it’s what that lifestyle does, as young people you can be one way at home but the moment you step outside, you’re a different person. 

How do you feel about the death of your son?
Any kind of lose is painful, but with murder, it doesn’t go away.  People talk about closure but there’s never none.  Even someone getting life in prison, it isn’t life.  We’ve got the life sentence because my son’s never coming home.

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How does your family feel about Danny’s death?
His brothers don’t like talking about it, as young men they’re angry.  His son was 3 when he died.  My granddaughter was 7 and she would ask – “Grandma why didn’t these people just beat my dad up? Put him on crutches and at least I would have had a dad”.  For a 7 year old to have to think like that about their dad, it’s not right.  She’s just realised recently that her dad was involved with drugs and is now saying, “My dad betrayed me, because he knew what he was doing, what lifestyle he was in”. So all you people who are involved, look what you’re doing to your next generation. Come out of it, it’s a dirty life.

What do you think about Danny’s killer?
If someone pointed that person out to me as a mother, I’d probably run at them with my bare hands. I wouldn’t be waiting until dark with any weapons.  I don’t want anyone getting revenge. I find it difficult enough sleeping, why should I want to put that on someone else’s mother, brothers, sisters? And this gun crime has to stop somewhere. These youngsters think – yeah I wanna get revenge and kill someone, then that family’s hurting and they want to do the same.  Before you know it there’s 5,10 dead and where it all began…that person still hasn’t come home. 

What are your aims for your group, Mothers against Violence?
I would like to turn every young person against the gun but I don’t think that’s possible so my aim is to educate young people around the consequences and impact that these crimes have on families. Not only families who’ve lost but families of the perpetrators. Theses lads are pulling the trigger so quick now that they forget they’re gonna get caught. I know of situations where lads have done things and because people can’t get at them they’ve actually gone to their parents.  Parents have been beaten up, been made to move and I know of parents that have been murdered down to what their youngsters have done. I’ve been in schools, I’ve visited in prisons I’ve seen people who have been shot in hospitals.  If I feel comfortable I’ll knock on people’s doors and offer my support to another parent.

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Do you think political people are listening?
I don’t feel they can understand what we go through. Never mind weapons of mass destruction in Iraq there are probably more weapons of mass destruction on our streets here and Tony Blair really needs to be looking at the wars here at home because to me charity begins at home.  I don’t understand government, if they can’t put laws in place now, when they know this stuff is happening. When people say do you think we need to start arming our police offices I say no I don’t.  I’d be very scared for a lot of young people because the police are only human too.  Put the guns down because if the police start having to be armed there’s going to be a lot more killings.  We’re a footstep away from being like American.

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Were you aware of the fact that Danny dealt drugs and did you ever try to talk him into stopping?
Why do you think Danny accepted he was going to get killed?
Tell us about the other side of Danny?
How do you feel about the death of your son?
How does your family feel about Danny’s death?
What do you think about Danny’s killer?
What are your aims for your group, Mothers against Violence?
Do you think political people are listening?
What have you got to say to our communities?
Pat you’re mixed race and your child Danny was black. Do you think Gun crime has any relation to racism?
Do you feel that the media, has been influential towards gun crime?
Do you think you’ve changed young people’s lives from your speeches?
Does what you’re doing help you deal with
Danny’s death and do you ever loose heart?

What have you got to say to our communities?
One thing we all have in common regardless of whether you’re Christian, Muslim, Hindu or other, we’re all parents.  As mothers we carry for 9 months, go through pain giving birth to our kids, we grew them and when they die, we surely feel the same pain.  What I would advise here in Sheffield and anywhere is, parents need to start working together because our children are out there is the community together.  If us as parents can’t put our barriers down, how can we expect our kids from different cultures to? 

Pat you’re mixed race and your child Danny was black. Do you think Gun crime has any relation to racism?
I’m not afraid to say this but black on black gun crime is disgusting. These kids are wanting to kill each other, because they’re a different ethnicity or because of where they’re from or they haven’t got the right trainers or they didn’t give the bigup sign.  Respect has gone.  These guys respect is material things. Why should you have to bow down to someone because they’ve got a flashy car, big gold chain and a bag of drugs? They’ve all got it WRONG have these kids. They really need to look and think about the things they’re worshipping.  For one, your trainers can’t go in the ground with you. 

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For a lot of youngsters when they see a black film it’s always to do with gangs, drugs and guns.  Music videos are stereotyping black people.  Guys with the big chains talking about if you ain’t got the material, you ain’t got nowt and black women half naked. I feel so sorry for girls growing up now because to me it’s basically saying the more naked you get and the dirtier you dance you’re going to go somewhere. I believe a lot of these artists have really sold their souls to the devil.  They’re making millions telling our kids to go rob, pimp, sell drugs, die, do whatever and yet most of them aren’t doing it themselves - have never done it. The likes of ya 50 cent, he wears a bullet proof vest and I’m sure he’s got a big electronic fence around where he lives, so yeah he can tell our kids to get rich quick or die trying.  Kids are going out onto our streets wanting to be like these rappers and do what they are singing about.

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Do you feel that the media, has been influential towards gun crime?
People will read ‘Gangland drug killing’ and they’ll think, yeah, deserved it. But he was someone’s child.  So when they put all this negative out, the person who they’re talking about, ain’t here to hear it.  It’s us and the kids who are listening to it.  It’s spreading the wrong message and also glamorises it.

We’ve got a song, you might have seen on MTV Base. I’m just on it as a parent with other parents, not singing.  It’s called -Why? The radio stations won’t play it because they said it’s too emotional because there’re real parents on it.  So they will play ya 50 cent and all them but the real side of it, they don’t want to know. So me, I think a lot of people are so guilty in these killings. 

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Do you think you’ve changed young people’s lives from your speeches?
Some I may never know but yeah I have. There’s one Sheffield lad, his letter really sticks with me because he did carry a knife, but after my talk he said the only thing his knife is used for now is his bacon butty on a morning. Another lad in Leeds who was actually gonna hurt someone – because he felt that if he didn’t get him first, they were gonna get him. He said he’d gone to go collect something on his way to kill and when he got there he saw a picture of my Danny and he said - the minute I saw that Pat I thought about you and went home.

Does what you’re doing help you deal with Danny’s death and do you ever loose heart?
I’ve gone into prisons and I’ve heard, “You know you’re hitting a brick wall don’t you girl” and it does dishearten me.  But I’m a good climber and all walls have an ending. If I can see even a little bit over I’m going to keep going.  There’s days, cos I’m still grieving myself, when I wake up and I can’t face it. Then I hear the voice of one of the kids saying – you’ve made me think, I didn’t know a little bullet could do so much damage.  Danny’s lifestyle was negative. I can’t compensate for anything my son did wrong in his life but by doing this it makes me feel it wasn’t in vain.
 
In my opinion, we all need to reason up and come together as one in order to fight gun crime. There is no point in putting the blame on a specific race. If it gets out of hand it will eventually revolve around to every one of us. Do we have to wait till we end up like America, where they accept gun crime on a daily basis, before we rise up?  Pat Regan was an inspiration to me.  She showed me what a normal mother can do to make change in her community so I’m leaving you with the last word Pat.  “Never mind the majority, be your own person.  It ain’t a rehearsal in life, you got one chance and that’s all you get”. 

By Adwoa Ofori-Mensah

(Listen to the audio interview at Cube radio)

Thanks to:
Pat Regan for coming to Cube
from her home in Leeds, email pat at patregan7@hotmail.co.uk
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Workshop after interview with Pat Regan. Pat shows young people the reality of carrying weapons.