'THE DRUGS ARE HERE, THE GANGS ARE HERE'

Lucy Cope, Whose 22-Year-Old Son Was Gunned Down Last Year, Says That The
Killing Fields Are Now Taking In Middle England

Lucy Cope's 22-year-old son, Damian, was shot dead outside a London
nightclub in July 2002. Determined that he should not have died in vain,
Lucy has since joined the pressure group Mothers Against Guns and become
one of its most outspoken and active campaigners. This is her story.

'It was 1.30am when the phone rang. My son's girlfriend was in floods of
tears as she told me that Damian had been shot outside a nightclub and was
fighting for his life in hospital. I picked up a picture of my son and ran
out into the street. I already knew that I was never going to see him alive
again.

'He'd been taken to University College Hospital, so I jumped in the car and
rushed over there. On the way, I came across a police cordon around the
nightclub where the shooting had taken place. I rushed up to one of the
officers and told them it was my son and asked if they had any news. "Is he
alive?" I asked. The policeman couldn't look me in the eye. "He was when he
left here," he told me.

'When I got to the hospital, I spoke to a nurse who told me Damian was
critical and had extensive bleeding. She promised to update me every 15
minutes, but, every time she came, out I felt my hopes fading. After a
couple of hours, I called for a priest so Damian could be given the last
rites. I wasn't allowed in the operating theatre so I told the nurse to
tell him that I loved him.

'The next time I saw her, she didn't have to say anything. I just knew what
had happened by her face and she very slowly nodded her head. She took me
to see my son. As soon as I saw him, I told her that he didn't look right,
but I just couldn't find the words to explain what I meant. It was only
later, when I was driving back, that it suddenly stuck me what I had seen.
It was fear. It had frozen on his face.

'I stopped the car and just screamed and screamed and screamed. I know my
son saw his death coming because it was written all over his face and for
that I will never forgive the man who killed him.

'Damian wasn't a gangster. He was killed because he had dared to stand up
to a man brandishing a gun at a music festival. Damian had told him to put
away his weapon because there were children around. That had upset the
gunman, who caught up with my son outside the nightclub.

'I'm a white mother with black kids, so I see things from a different
perspective. The police can't say it, but I can. The drugs are here, the
gun culture is here, the gangs are here. That is not how we want to live,
but they have got no choice.

'And now it's moving into the white community, into the rural areas. I've
been telling the Government this for more than a year. Tony Blair should be
ashamed because he has done nothing. The English Bronx is here, all around
us. How many more people have to die before they take action? It is time
that the Government and the police and courts made it safer for the next
generation. For them to promise to do something if they get elected to a
third term is little more than blackmail.

'We need tougher laws if we're going to crush the violence and we need them
right now. People caught in possession of a firearm should serve 10 years
with no parole, and those on firearms charges should never be granted bail.
For those who take lives, there should be only one sentence: life with no
parole.

'Then we need to go after the people who are supplying the guns and end the
culture that makes guns fashionable and trendy. That's why I have objected
to the Russian Roulette show today [Sunday]. It's glamorising guns once
more and right now that's the last thing we need. Seeing Victor Bates talk
about the murder of his wife was absolutely heartbreaking. If Blair and
Blunkett are not moved to action by that, they should stand down.'