A former gang leader “cried” after seeing Little Boy Blue, which inspired him to change his life.
Sicarius McGrath prepared the children in organized crime groups in the northwest and “flooded the streets with weapons,” as he once described himself as a “monumental risk to the public.” But in 2017, his criminal lifestyle came home after watching the show in his cell about the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Little Boy Blue, featured in four episodes, tells the story of how Rhys Jones was shot dead when he was caught in the crossfire of two gangs wielding weapons in Liverpool, an event that shocked the city. The crime series follows the incident and subsequent police investigation, ending the scenes inside Liverpool Crown Court.
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It explores the devastating impact the murder had on Rhys’ parents, along with how the murder affected all of Liverpool. The 41-year-old ex-crime chief also spoke of how he was moved to tears by the documentary, saying: “I felt partly responsible, as I had put hundreds of weapons on the streets. I wrote to the charity her parents had set up. “
Sicarius McGrath was involved in gang violence from the mid-1990s until 2016, and was jailed several times, including in 2003 for his role in setting up an illegal weapons factory. In 2016, he was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to blackmail, control prostitution and possession of cocaine and a CS gas container found in his home at the time of his arrest.
Rhys Jones, Liverpool schoolboy
He said: “From that moment on I had a passion to change myself as a person and use my experience to help others and reduce the number of children involved in crimes with knives, firearms, county, youth violence, and antisocial behavior. ” Sicarius said it was a “proper skill” as he recruited children in gangs, as he used the same methods used with him when he was prepared for al-Qaeda in prison.
He added: “We used to flood the streets with guns and drugs, I was fine. I remember the first time I shot someone in the leg in Liverpool I shit, nobody really wants to kill anyone else, but when you’re so deep in this world, and now kids carry knives, they’re afraid others will do it, so do it yourself. “
Since his release from prison, Sicarius, who now lives in Middleton, has worked with charities across the UK and has been in contact with various agencies to create his own group, OCG Solutions. He said he wants to use the same methods he used to get kids into gangs, to keep them out.
He told MEN: “You have to be real with them and speak their language, if you try to be smart with them, they won’t listen to you and just think you’re a *******. keep out of violence instead of getting into it.
“I’ve been to youth clubs where there have been some very violent kids and I’ve become a monster again to scare them away. It has made me realize that I can still be like that monster I was, but I use it to scare The children have gone away and they want nothing to do with me, but in the end I have them by my side. “
The crime boss also hopes to get videos of inmates talking about their experiences and wants young people to talk to the parents of gang violence victims, as “you almost have to scare them.” She is now raising funds to help with activity projects and aims to work with parents.
He added: “I’m putting everything in this, I just know it will work, and there are a lot of high-level people interested in seeing if it does, because it’s very different from anything that’s been tried before. Too many young people have lost. their lives to violence, and it has gotten a lot worse recently, something different needs to be done to stop it, and I can do it. “
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