A disturbing film aims to show gang members the consequences of violence

THIS is the terrifying weapon seizedby policeduringa crackdownongang fightinginoneof Scotland'shousing estates. The fearsome knuckle-duster knife, used by some armies' special forces, was among a variety of weapons - including golf clubs, axes, machetes, swords and lock-back knives - taken from gangs fighting in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow.

Tomorrow,StrathclydePolicewill launch a major offensive against territorial gang fighting with a hard-hitting documentary, targeted at schoolchildren as young as 10, featuring some of the most disturbing scenes captured on film.

As It Is , an educational DVD, will teach young people about the dangers of a culture that has gripped parts of the city for almost 60 years - through interviews with current and former gang members, youth workers, police, A&E staff and the families of victims.

It is the latest high-profile initiative aimed at ending the turf feuds blamed for the rising numbers of murders, attempted murders and knife attacks among young people across Scotland.

Marie Olesen, 37, a winner of the Berlin film festival's Golden Bear award, worked with young people in Easterhouse over eight months to create the intimate portrait of gang life. The Danish producer and her cameraman, Doug Aubrey, were also given access to CCTV tapes depicting gang warfare.

The footage shows young people being hunted down and attacked by rival gangs. Photographs of horrific injuries suffered by victims and attackers in hospital are also an important part of the powerful DVD, which will be distributed to schools as part of a wider anti-gang fighting package.

The launch, in Glasgow, takes place only days after Detective Chief Inspector John Carnochan, head of Strathclyde's Violence Reduction Unit, conceded there "is no magic cure" to violent crime in Scotland. Latest government figures show a violent incident is committed every 37 minutes. Non-sexually related violent crimes alone rose by 3% to 14,099 in the past year - a figure equivalent to 39 such incidents each day.

Sergeant Steven Kinvig, a community prevention officer based in Easterhouse, developed the idea after a group of pupils in the area's Lochend Community High School won a £1000 grant from Greater Easterhouse Youth Bank to kickstart the project.

Glasgow Community & Safety Services (GCSS), a multi-agency organisation set uptofightcrimeandantisocial behaviour, pooled funding from local groups to commission Olesen's Glasgow-based Autonomi production company.

Sergeant Kinvigsaid:"We wanttoteach children there is no such thing as recreational' violence. We come intoworkon Mondays and have seriousassaults, attempted murders, murders and other serious crimes from weekend after weekend to deal with.

"Enforcementis always the first option, but the police have been enforcing the gang-fighting strategies for the past 60 years, putting the culprits into jail, and it hasn't addressed the culture.

"We now have the toolkit of As It Is , backed up by three-hour workshops that will show young people what happens if they insist on going down that path.

"We asked pupils what they thought of it and had comments like it makes you really think'. Some told us to show it to primary sixes and sevens, before they end up in gangs."

Olesen produced the DVD to strict guidelines laid down by GCSS, but was surprised at how much of the hard- hitting production she could keep in the final edited version.

As It Is is a narrative from young people, starting with them thrilled by gang-fighting and the "addiction of the chase" before gradually describing their fears about being unable to escape the circle of violence that trapped their parents and grandparents.

However, Olesen's film-making skills mean some of the most highly charged scenes do not feature any violence at all. One hardened fighter breaks down in tears as he comes to terms with the psychological consequences of his alcohol-fuelled assaults.

The documentary opens with a scene showing banks of TV screens in a police control room, then homes in on CCTV images of youths - some nine or 10 years old - running wildly through the streets of a Glasgow scheme after another gang, wieldingknives and machetes, throwing stones, bricks or anything they can lay their hands on.

In one particularly disturbing scene, a group of at least six youths are clearly seen clubbing another who had fallen during a different chase. Another shows a youth running away from a rival gang member who is beating him with a stick while he flees.

One macho youth summed up the "buzz" of gang culture in the DVD. He said: "If there's a load of youse on your own and you're getting chased away of whatever - it's a good buzz. It gets the adrenaline going."

His friend added that youths are not considered part of a gang "until you get hurt".

Another spoke about the importance of defending their territory's honour. "They see you walking down the street, man, they are running towards you You are not going to run away from them like a stupid idiot. You are going to pick something up, of course, man - try and smash 'em. Do yer best."

The film is notable for the lack of uniformed officers lecturing young people about gang violence. A crime prevention officer appears briefly to warn pupils they can be arrested for possessing knives in school.

Twoyouthworkersdescribehow young people are scared to cross the divides between rival turfs, while another youth added that gangs will fight over the most obscure boundaries, such as walkways or the hills of a nearby park.

As It Is also highlights the deadly concoction of alcohol and gang-fighting, with one fighter describing how he drunkenly turned on his own gang. He said: "It's a bastard waking up sometimes when you don't know what you've done. You wake up covered in blood, know what I mean, you never know what you've done to somebody. It happens."

Another puts the odds of surviving a gang fight at "50/50".

The film cuts to another youth recalling how falling during a chase is "one of the worst things" that can happen. He added: "Once you are in gang-fighting you cannae get back out of it. It's hard to get back out."

When asked by Olesen if he wanted to stay in fighting, he replies: "To be honest with you, no. I've hurt a lot of people, and all that, too. Done too much damage."

He added: "You don't realise that when you're a wee bit older, you need a job and you cannae get a job. That's when you realise, shouldn't have done this, shouldn't have done that."

Appealing to young people watching, he added: "It's going to keep going and keep going until you make a change..."

Olesen also interviewed an inmate at Polmont Young Offenders Institute in Stirlingshire. He complainedhis former gang mates had deserted him since his conviction for assault and robbery. He said: "When I was out there, I thought, Aye all my mates, they'll do this, they'll back me up in fights. They'll say Hi, I'll come up and see you.' Do they come up ?"

Karen, 43, whose 13-year-old son lost part of his hand after a machete attack outsideEasterhousefirestation, described how the incident left him psychologically scarred.

She said: "It must be hard. You are 13, you know, turning into a teenager, and all of a sudden you need your mum, stepdad and sisters to take you to the toilet, to feed you."

The DVD shows graphic scenes inside a hospital of another teenager waiting for plastic surgery on a knife gash to one of his hands.

As a nurse tells the youth how serious his injury is, he said: "I honestly thought it would happen one of these days, I just didn't think it would happen the way it did. They the attackers came into my ain house with my own pals around me. It just shows you cannae walk around and think it is never going to happen."

The film nears its conclusion with several photographs of maimed youths being treated in hospital. The last shows from a distance a body covered in sheets lying on a hospital trolley.

The DVD ends in an appeal from the father of Hugh Burns, a 12-year-old boy who drowned in the River Clyde, near Carmyle in 1996, as he fled a gang. Hugh senior, 46, said: "Stop and think of the misery it causes your mother and father. It stays with them forever.

"If you are unfortunate enough to get caught up in gang-fighting, it's your life that's lost - and your friends. Just imagine how your mum and dad would be feeling if they go into your room each day and are still hoping to see you, can still smell your clothes and they can still sense you about the house - and you are not there."

Rose Docherty, school liaisonofficerwith GCSS, said the "eloquence"ofthe young people in AsItIs made it a compelling educational tool. She said: "It's literally as it is,' the people purely speaking for themselves. It's very hard to get out of it. We have to break this by not passing it on to the next generation."

Rosemary Dickson, co-ordinator of Family Action in Rogerfield and Easterhouse (Fare), which helped find some of those willing to be interviewed, said: "There was a stony silence among them when we showed the DVD. I don't think they had ever seen anything like that and there's nothing fake about it."

One police officer revealed how a schoolthathad handedoutT-shirts emblazoned with an anti-gang-fighting message received angry letters from parents proud of their children's fighting.Hesaid:"Theteacherswere dumbfounded because they had put together a big project to try to get kids away from traditional gang territories."

Margaret Curran, Labour's justice spokeswomanwhoseconstituency includes Easterhouse, said: "You can easily see the futility through the young men's words of gang violence, how easily it happens and the devastating consequences. These men have thrown away their lives and it's a real wake-up call."

Sergeant Kinvig said As It Is could be used in towns across Scotland, adding: "Territorialism is not isolated to the east end of Glasgow. It's in towns and villages all over Scotland and this DVD can be used anywhere."