'Reformed gangsters should give gun talks in school'

Black community leaders attending a government "gun summit" later this week will call for reformed gangsters to be allowed to enter inner-city schools to warn pupils of the dangers of armed crime.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, will also be asked to give children from the age of 11 a chance to meet the families of gun crime victims.

Lee Jasper, an adviser to Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor, and one of those invited to the Home Office summit on Friday, said children needed to be educated on the dangers of drugs and guns."We need a peer-to-peer approach. We would have to consider using people who have previously been involved [in gun crime] but who have turned the corner or served a sentence," he said.

Mr Livingstone has already formed a taskforce, Crime and Disorder Plus, which is preparing a schools gun-crime strategy for the summer term. It will build on the "Not Another Drop" poster campaign, featuring images of teenagers who had been shot, which helped to reduce gun fatalities in Brent, north London, by 28 per cent.

Mr Jasper said ministers needed to look beyond "knee-jerk" reactions such as blaming the rise in gun crime on inflammatory lyrics in rap music. "We will be talking about high unemployment and educational failure as the primary causes that give rise to lots of young people being seduced into a gangster lifestyle," he said.

Mr Blunkett called the summit after Latisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were killed in crossfire between rival gangs outside a party in Birmingham last Thursday. Police wish to contact Marcus Ellis, 23, the brother of Charlene, who is linked to a gang involved in the shooting.