The detective who led the investigation into the murder of a teenager in Bristol, in what was described as a ‘gang-related’ attack, has spoken of the challenges of policing groups that are merely ‘loose associations’, and in Darrian William’s case someone not in any kind of organised gang.
Although a court heard that Darrian Williams was attacked and killed by two other teenagers who accused him of being part of a gang from a different part of Bristol, Det Insp Neil Meade played down the involvement of the two different groups, which are said to have been the motivation behind a series of serious stabbings and murders in the city over the past several years.
Darrian, 16, was sitting with friends in Rawnsley Park, just off Easton Way, when he was set upon by two other boys, both 15 at the time and both armed with knives. One stabbed him in the back before he was able to run off, and the jury saw how he tragically asked for help from a number of motorists around the busy junction of Easton Way and Stapleton Road, as he was bleeding from the wound to his back that killed him within minutes.
Bristol Crown Court heard the boys cycled into Rawnsley Park and began attacking Darrian with knives – and in just eight seconds of violence caused the fatal stab wound to his back. The boys, who are now 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, denied murder but were found guilty by a jury. Members of Darrian’s family gasped and sobbed as the verdicts were returned and hugged each other afterwards.
The jury was told that the two boys who attacked Darrian accused him of being ‘a 6’, and as they chased him away, they shouted about the ‘2s’.
These were references to two rival gangs that have been linked to, or the suspected motivation for, a number of attacks in Bristol in recent years. It refers to a group called the ‘1-6s’, that take their name from the BS16 postcode – and are from Fishponds, Oldbury Court and Hillfields area of the city – while the ‘2-4s’ is based around St Pauls, St Phillips and Easton.
But Det Insp Meade said pinning this down is a challenge for Avon and Somerset police. Talking to Bristol Live he said: “I think as an organisation, that we recognise that there are opposing groups within the city. The name the 6s, the 1-6s that was shouted, or Darrian was accused of being, by the offenders as one of those groups. And the 2-4s is another group that we recognise as an organisation that exists.
“What we don’t know, or what we don’t fully understand, is how that membership of those two groups looks,” he said.
“But also, next question, what does (being) a member of that group mean?” he asked. “They don’t have membership cards like any other group would have. It’s a loose association and where the boundaries sit between members affiliated to, or just wanting to be a part of that group, those boundaries are very blurred,” he added.
While it was referenced by the two boys who attacked Darrian – and the court heard he replied saying ‘do I look like a 6?’ – there was little evidence that meant anything. “From our investigation, speaking to local officers and the community, there’s nothing that categorically tells us that either Darrian – he’s certainly not – or the offenders, were members of this group,” said Det Insp Meade.
“What we do know is that Darrian was in the park with a group of friends and then these two other boys came into the park. We do know that when they entered the park, they accused Darrian of potentially being a member of another rival group within the city. We also know, as the evidence from his friends suggests, that when they were leaving the park, they (the attackers) were shouting out the name of one of the other rival groups within the city.
“Our investigation has looked long and hard at Darrian himself and why he was a victim of this offence, and there’s nothing we found to suggest Darrian was a member of either of those groups.
“Again, as part of our investigation, we’ve looked long and hard to understand the motive and we do know there was an incident in Bristol the week before where one of the offenders was present when that took place.
“But there’s nothing that’s come in evidence or that we found to suggest that either of the two offenders are members of that group,” he added.
Darrian was stabbed in the back but managed to escape. Tragically, within minutes, he would become another fatality in Bristol’s teenage apparent turf wars. For Det Insp Meade, those minutes are the most tragic thing about the awful, and pointless, killing.
“The things that stick with me with this case are two things really,” said Det Insp Meade. “How quickly it happened: Darrian was given no opportunity – the two boys that came into the park on the bikes attacked him immediately and he ran off within seconds.
“He was unable to react. He was sitting on a bench when these two boys entered the park and he was unable to get off that bench, it happened so quickly.
“Probably what sticks more with this case is the fact that Darrian was able to run away, was able to jump over the fence onto Easton Way, and we’ve got some really, really clear dashcam footage of Darrian on Easton Way trying to flag down vehicles.
“And what really strikes me is this boy is walking up there knocking on car doors, trying to open car doors and literally ten minutes later he’s dead. And that really sticks with me from this case.
“That’s really hard for the family to deal with as well. We’re showing them CCTV of their loved one. If it hadn’t been for the blood on his back, you wouldn’t know he was fatally injured. And then ten minutes later he succumbed to those injuries and that’s really difficult for the police investigation.
“But more importantly, it’s really, really difficult for his family to see him in his last minutes and not being able to help him,” he added.
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Darrian did manage to clamber into the passenger seat of a van, and the driver drove into Old Market looking for the former Trinity Road police station. Tragically, Darrian, overcome by his injuries, got out of the van and collapsed on West Street. Paramedics and police battled to save him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
After Darrian was killed, and police began to piece together what had happened and who was responsible, it was initially a huge challenge.
“We didn’t have any idea who the offenders were,” said Det Insp Meade. “Both the offenders were dressed in black, both had balaclavas on, both were on bikes.
“We used a number of investigative techniques to identify these offenders, whether it be from intelligence we hold within the police, looking at any issues previously with our victim, looking at where the CCTV took us, and quite quickly, we were able to identify the two suspects. Within a day of the attack against Darrian, both his offenders were in custody,” he added.
Why two boys decided that day to attack Darrian, ending his life and ruining their own, is unknown. “Both the offenders were not known to the police previously, never been arrested before, never gone through the criminal justice system before,” said Det Insp Meade.
“There was nothing to indicate to us for police intelligence or anything of that nature, that these two children would end up committing such a significant offence,” he added.
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