'I begged for my boy to be locked up.. three weeks before he helped

THE mother of a teenager jailed for a gang killing has revealed how she asked the authorities to lock up her son three weeks before the murder.

Glenys Williams, 36, told how she begged the police and social services to step in and take son Michel into care.

Her pleas were ignored, and three weeks later Michel, then 13, was part of a gang that beat and stabbed Kodjo Yenga, 16, in Hammersmith, West London.

The promising student died in his girlfriend's arms on a street in broad daylight after being chased by a gang chanting "kill him, kill him".

Glenys, whose son was jailed for 10 years for manslaughter last month, said: "It's horrific to think your own son was involved in some way with the murder of another boy.

"I sent an email to social services asking them to take him to a centre because I said I couldn't control him. But within a month Kodjo was dead. "I knew he was going out of control. My heart goes out to Kodjo's mother.

I can go and visit my son in prison but that poor woman is never going to see her son again."

Michel, 14, was part of a gang who surrounded and attacked Kodjo on March 14 last year.

Glenys says that three weeks earlier, on February 21, she emailed social services saying her son was out of control.

She researched a centre where she thought Michel would be better off and begged to have him placed there. But they replied saying they could not help.

Glenys said: "I'm not trying to excuse what my son did but I could see the warning signs.

"He started not listening in school and hanging round with a bad lot. There were minor scuffles and there was just no telling him.

"You can't discipline your own kids. We're told we're not allowed to smack them but they have no respect - they don't listen to their parents, their teachers or police."

Glenys spoke out in the week that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told parents to confront their children over knife crime.

She said: "Children do listen to what their mums and dads say. The key point of this campaign is to tell parents that it is always worth your while speaking to them. So do it."

But Glenys said: "Kids have got no fear because they know even the police can't touch them if they're too young. The police don't get involved until it's too late."

Glenys, who has two other children, aged one and four, is married to a man who is not Michel's father.

She added: "Society should be very worried because more kids are dying and parents can't control their kids. They need to be put to work or given a harsh punishment.

"New advertising campaigns showing knife injuries aren't going to work. They don't care what the government says. They don't listen to anyone but their own gangs.

"When I did ask for help from social services, police and Michel's school it wasn't there.

"There needs to be more money put into strict boot camps where we can put kids who are going off the rails. It's far too soft these days."

On May 10 Tirrel Davis, 17, and Brandon Richmond, 14, were found guilty of Kodjo's murder.

They received life sentences and were ordered to serve a minimum 15 years.

Michel Williams, Kurtis Yemoh, 17, and Jamel Bridgeman, 15, were found guilty of violent disorder and manslaughter, and sentenced to 10 years.

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