'I thought if I have that much power...why don't I put it into good instead of bad? Nobody really remembers a bad guy'

IT was the moment that made father-of-four Paul Smith realise he was right to want to turn away from gang violence.

Paul was known as one of the leader of Derby gang the BCT, which had long clashed with its rival, the A1 Crew.

But Paul – known as P Dog – said when he heard how kids at junior school were asking each other which gang they were in, it made him realise that it had all gone too far.

It was then he knew he had been right to think of ending the clashes between the BCT, which originated on the city's Austin Estate, and the A1, based in Allenton.

When police brought in a gang mediator earlier this year, Paul was involved in calling a truce between the two sides – a truce that Paul is working to save following the recent shooting of 15-year-old Kadeem Blackwood.

Paul, who grew up in Normanton, admitted that when he heard the shocking news of Kadeem's death on November 11, he was angry and hurt.

"I felt the truce was over and it was war," said Paul.

But then the 29-year-old, now in the Stockbrook area, received a call from gang mediator Chris Lue, who had helped broker the truce, along with senior detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hough, asking him not to "kick off".

Former gangster Chris is part of a team from Birmingham enlisted by Derbyshire police to tackle gang and gun crime in the city.

Paul said: "I didn't really want to listen to him after I had just heard about Kadeem but in the end, it was the right thing to do. At the time, I was thinking I want revenge. But I didn't go out on the road, and just chilled with my kids.

"I weighed it up and thought I can either be selfish or I can be a man about it. And I decided the truce was still on."

Paul said that it had made sense to have a truce between the two gangs but previously there had been no-one to mediate a peace accord.

He said: "I just needed to have someone in the middle to help because at that time, I wasn't going to sit down with the police.

"It was agreed on the phone with a member of the A1 and I went back and told my people. They said, 'we're not really down with it but let's try it'.

"We're trying to dismantle the gang thing and turn it into something else."

He said that events over the last few years had changed him. Firstly there was the death of Simeon Grignon in January, 2006. The 26-year-old, from Littleover, was stabbed to death in the city centre.

Then in June, 2006, Kiers Donaldson, 26, of Derby, died after suffering stab wounds to the face, neck and chest.

"They were very good friends of mine. Simeon was like my brother," said Paul.

Then last year, he spent eight months in custody but the charges against him were later dropped.

He said: "I met some serious guys – some were doing 33 years, some gang members and some ex-gang members – and it just opened my eyes to things. I'm not afraid of death but it would be stupid for me to die when it would mean my kids would have no father."

It was about this time that Paul heard of the children at school wanting to join gangs.

"All these things made me think about it and I thought if I have that much power and authority, why don't I put it into good instead of bad?

"Nobody really remembers a bad guy.

"I thought we need to stop it now and the only way we can stop it is if they see the older lot going the other way."

Another leading BCT member, Stephen Morgan, has also been working with the mediation team and is asking youngsters not to seek revenge.

The 38-year-old dad-of-three said: "We really started because the kids were coming and saying, 'we're getting bullied and chased', and so we would say 'just say you're from Browning Circle and they'd be able to have free passage and go where they liked'."

But he said the gang conflict had got more violent over the years.

Stephen, of Sunny Hill, said: "It was like fist fighting to start with – not like knives and guns.

"It just carried on from year to year. Then this year the guns started to come out and it was panic all over Derby."

Stephen said the trouble had started at the end of last year with a grievance between an A1 Crew member and a BCT member.

"There was a lot of bad words exchanged on both sides," said Stephen.

"To nip it in the bud, we arranged a meeting in a pub car park for those two to have their differences out but it didn't go as planned. The wrong things were said and then the police and a helicopter came and that's how we got here today because of that."

Stephen said it was ironic that it was often the case that parents and families of youngsters in the separate gangs had originally been "best friends".

He said he had had a lot of the youngsters at his home since Kadeem's death and he had told them there was not to be a "revenge attack".

"We've told them, 'it's over and if you cross the line or do anything, you're up against me and P.

"I said to them, you're going to lose a life. If you go out and die now, it will be for nothing.

"But if we join together and do things like work to get a plaque or memorial for Kadeem, then we've won as we're progressing."

Chris, of West Midlands Mediation and Transformation Services, said his team's strategy was to target the leading figures in the gangs and "show them a better road and hope that the younger ones will follow suit".

He said: "We're not going to change everybody but in my experience there's hope for 60% and it's just giving them that chance."

Chief Superintendent Andy Hough said: "As a police division, we will continue to support and work closely with any individual or group who want to turn away from what is or could be perceived to be group offending behaviour. And we are encouraged by those men who have taken that significant step in actively engaging in that process."

Paul, Stephen and mediator Chris are due to meet with the police to discuss what more can be done to avoid conflict.