A war is being waged on the streets of London.
London is a city divided along invisible borders, hidden lines that separate borough from borough, postcode from postcode, even estate from estate. And crossing these boundaries can be fatal for the young people who stray outside of their area.
Gangland London is a deep dive into the world of these young people, a realm of knives, guns and drugs, where trying to live outside a gang can be as deadly as joining one. It tells the story of those around them- the surgeons trying to save their lives; the police officers trying to get them off the streets; the drill musicians whose videos turn violence into entertainment. And it reveals how endemic racism and poverty have created a culture whose disturbing effects are now spreading outside the capital, through county lines set up to distribute drugs in Britain's countryside.
Journalist and documentary-maker, David Matthews, grew up on Hackney's 'Murder Mile', and has unprecedented, first-hand access to a world that few understand. Here, he turns his gaze back to the streets that raised him, to reveal how London became a warzone.
Raw, authentic and uncompromising, Gangland London will show you London as you have never seen it before.