Nine-year-olds in ethnic gang attacks, Melbourne

July 8, 2007

CHILDREN as young as nine are being caught up in race-based machete and knife attacks over drug turf and ethnic pride...

Police are tight-lipped about whether the St Albans stabbings were gang-related. Social worker Les Twentyman said the attack could be linked to the notorious SNK gang, a group of youths involved in a 2004 brawl that left its leader with a severed hand...

Mr Twentyman said children as young as nine and 10 were recruited by older members who felt vulnerable unless they roamed in large packs. "It's all about a sense of belonging, ethnicity and drug dealing and a whole range of things," he said.

St Albans, Sunshine and Dandenong were among the worst places for youth gang violence, which Mr Twentyman said was at its worst level since he began youth work almost 30 years ago. "One of the problems about those areas is that they're very high on ethnicity and a lot of them have issues with other ethnic groups. But a lot of it is about being excluded.

"That's one of the problems — kids feel totally alienated from the mainstream and this is their survival thing."...