Nottinghamshire Police respond to claim that gang violence will spill onto streets after lockdown eases

Concerns have been raised by the Police Federation that 'scores will be settled' once lockdown is lifted

Police in Nottinghamshire have vowed that gang crime will not spill onto the streets once lockdown is lifted despite the concerns of some officers.

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said he had "real genuine fear" some "scores would be settled" once lockdown was lifted.

He said social media sites had been "breeding grounds" for gangs to taunt each other and he is aware of "the mayhem" some wish to create when lockdown is eased.

But Nottinghamshire Police Federation and the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police said there was no intelligence to suggest there is a rise in violent crime on the horizon.

This year, Nottinghamshire Police invested in five police officers to patrol social media to prevent gang tensions mounting and to stop future knife attacks.

This was in the wake of the murder of Bulwell teenager, Lyrico Steede, 17, who was stabbed to death in Stock Well.

Police said Lyrico and his friends had a long-running feud with groups of teenagers scattered across Sneinton and Radford.

And these tensions were played out over social media through drill music videos uploaded onto channels such as YouTube.

Humiliation and a lack of respect compounded these tensions, resulting in his death.

Mr Apter told Sky News: "We are very much aware of the pressure cooker that has developed when it comes to gang members who want to create mayhem when this lockdown is eased.

"My real genuine fear is that some scores are going to be settled and that will mean more people being hurt or, god forbid, being murdered on our streets."

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Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police Craig Guildford said: "We have got no intelligence that supports any of that. I think they have still been operating under lockdown and we have actively been pursuing them."

He said plans were underway to employ more officers into intelligence gathering over the coming year, which includes social media.

He said: "That helps us locate people, pick up on tensions or events and even significant events that may not have been reported to us.

"It has been business as usual under lockdown."

Mark Petrovic, chairman of Nottinghamshire Police Federation, added: "There has always been beef between gangs on social media and it is like a storm in a teacup and very rarely does it escalate to serious violence.

"We have not seen a spike in violent crime since lockdown. We don't want to frighten the public - there is not going to be more murders or stabbings."

Nottingham's Pythian Club work with young people at risk of getting involved in knife crime and former offenders across the county.

They offer mentoring, as well as a range of activities including football sessions at the Forest Recreation Ground.

Founder Ben Rosser said this was an important time for voluntary organisations as lockdown is lifted and young people start to come outdoors.

"I feel that we need to be aware of what the impact has been to people's mental health and wellbeing. We do not want a repeat of some of the situations we saw prior to Covid-19," he said.

"We need to ensure that we have got projects in place when this lockdown comes to an end, with the funding, to provide initiatives so they do not get into trouble."