Kadeem Blackwood Tribute

The smiling schoolboy and the scowling gangster... two faces of our gun culture's latest victim

By Andy Dolan, James Tozer and Jaya Narain
Last updated at 11:42 AM on 13th November 2008

They look like totally different people  -  the fresh-faced schoolboy and the sneering, menacing teen gangster.

But the pictures below are both of Kadeem Blackwood, 15, the latest victim of Britain's gun culture.

The starkly contrasting images may offer some clue as to how he became caught up in the events which claimed his life.

Full of promise (left): Kadeem poses in school uniform. Full of menace (right): His alter ego Snipez in an internet image

Kadeem, the son of two social workers was killed with single shotgun blast in front of his friends by a rival gang member after they arranged to meet for a fight.

He was shot twice in the chest as he goaded his killer to open fire in the park where they confronted each other.

He then staggered 150 yards to the street before collapsing on the pavement, while his killer ran off. He died in hospital soon after.

Relatives said Kadeem went off the rails after leaving his father's strict home to live with his mother.

Gangster pose: Kadeem pretends to aim a firearm

One youth, who heard the shots yards from her house in Normanton, Derby, said: 'He was waiting for the rival gang member but wasn't expecting him to come with a gun.

'Apparently, the killer was asking onlookers whether he should shoot Kadeem. Kadeem was goading him, saying, "Go on then, shoot me". So he did.

'I heard one shot and then I just heard screams. People were trying to revive him until the ambulance got there. Apparently he turned to run away and collapsed.'

The shooting, which happened on Tuesday, is the first fatality of its kind in a city where gang hostilities are growing, and is the worst of nine gun incidents there in a year.

Uniform: Kadeem poses in a gang T-shirt

The dead youngster's gang name was emblazoned on the back of the shirt

Police fear it could 'open the floodgates' to a wave of reprisals between Kadeem's gang the Browning Circle Terrorists  -  named after a local shopping parade  -  and the rival A1 Crew from the neighbouring Allenton suburb.

Derbyshire Police were last night questioning a 19-year-old man over the killing.

Despite the cherubic face in his school photograph, Kadeem was an up-and-coming member of his gang's junior wing, known as the Yunga Browning Circle Terrorists.

Nicknamed Snipez, he had a ' low-level' criminal record, and had recently moved back to Derby.

Friends said he had been in a young offenders' institution.

Pose: The youngster pictured on his Facebook site in sunglasses

In a series of photographs posted online, he is shown staring menacingly at the camera, wearing gang T-shirts.

His father Steven Blackwood, 40, managed a Derby fostering agency before moving to Canada this year.

Until last year, Kadeem lived with him in a large detached house on a private estate in Chellaston, four miles from the murder scene.

But a relative said he moved in with his mother Helen, 42, in Normanton because his father was a disciplinarian who tried to keep him out of gangs.

His great uncle Denard Blackwood said: 'Kadeem was a good boy at heart. He lived with his dad but found life there a bit too strict and that's why he moved to his mother's house.'

When he was seven, Kadeem joined a local gym when he boxed and lifted weights regularly.

Grief: Girls visit the death scene yesterday

A friend said: 'Kadeem was a big guy. You wouldn't have thought he was 15. People were scared to fight him  -  that's why they shot him instead. They're cowards.'

Youths said Kadeem carried a knife and had traded insults with his killer in the past.

They said he may have been killed for failing to show enough 'respect'.

Within hours of the shooting, friends had created a tribute page on the internet, with some urging gang members not to retaliate.

One, Becki Ford, who said she had lost her own brother to gun crime, wrote: 'There is lots of talk of revenge, is that what we want?

'We want justice but we do not want another life to be taken, damage like this is irreversible and changes nothing, let the law deal with them.

'Gang members need to fix up, you ain't big or clever with the guns, knives, use your brain for something other than revenge, use it to better yourself so you can show the next generation that guns aren't the answer.'

City invaded by drugs and guns

Derby's gun problems have been overshadowed by those of its East Midlands neighbour Nottingham.

Gang rivalry there led to the drive-by killing of 14-year-old Danielle Beccan as she walked home in October 2004.

But while Nottingham police have managed to reduce the toll of injuries, fears are growing that armed drug-runners are concentrating on Derby.

Police officers guard the scene after the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy in Derby, central England November 12, 2008

The latest shooting is the city's ninth in 12 months as rivalry between teenagers on neighbouring estates escalates into deadly violence.

The dispute between the Browning Circle Terrorists and the A1 Crew claimed one life nearly three years ago when Simeon Grignon, 26, was falsely accused of being in the former and stabbed to death.

Locals said the violence fell after a police crackdown, but a new wave of hardened youngsters has taken over, coinciding with greater access to guns.

One ex-member said: 'Guns are easy to get hold of now. A year or two ago, we used to be able to go anywhere in Derby, but now there's trouble if you go into the wrong areas. It's all down to drugs.'

Another said: 'Kids were really getting into being in a gang. They want Derby to have the same reputation as Nottingham, they think they'll get more respect that way. It's pathetic, really.'

A man was shot in the leg in Derby at a party in May.

Last month four members of the A1 Crew were given Asbos.

Three other suspected gang members have been jailed for 19 years for having weapons including a pistol and silencer.

There have been no shootings since June, but locals fear Kadeem's murder will spark reprisals.

One youth said: 'There's bound to be shootings. There will be people who want revenge - and they want Derby to get a reputation as well.'