BIRMINGHAM - Tues 13 May 2008

> Launch Birmingham video player

WITNESSES

1. Barbara Sawyers
Barbara’s son Daniel was shot dead, aged 19, by a Birmingham gang in 2003 after he was mistakenly identified as a rival. Since then, Barbara founded the Mothers In Pain group with the aim of saving other parents from experiencing, as she did, the loss of a child to violent youth crime.
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2. CC Keith Bristow
National lead on violent crime for the Association of Chief Police Officers, and chief constable of Warwickshire police.
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3. ACC Suzette Davenport
Assistant chief constable of West Midland police.
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4. & 5. Kirk Dawes QPM & CS Tom Coughlan
Kirk is a former detective and now director of the West Midlands Mediation and Transformation Service, which seeks to resolve retaliatory gang violence through mediation. He works in partnership with Chief Superintendent Tom Coughlan, commander of WM police’s Queens Road unit, who leads the Birmingham Reducing Gang Violence group.
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6. Ann Oakes-Odger
Ann’s son Westley was stabbed to death in Colchester in 2005. She now runs the campaigning website KnifeCrimes.org and an anti-knife educational roadshow for schools.
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7. Marc Edwards
Marc Edwards was brought up in gun and gang culture in Birmingham, and now runs the Young Disciples programme, which provides activities and personal development for young people at risk of involvement in violent crime.
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8. Chris Lue & Mike Royal
Chris Lue is a former gangster who now mediates to resolve gang conflict. Mike Royal is Birmingham co-ordinator of Street Pastors, a Christian organisation who provide a physical street presence aimed at deterring young people from gun and knife use.
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