More than 30,000 children aged between 10 and 15 now say that they are in gangs, according to research that will fuel concerns about the country’s violent crime epidemic.

Criminals are preying on young people by “taking the place of society”, Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner, said as analysis by her office showed that a total of 70,000 youths aged up to 25 were feared to be part of a gang network.

Senior police and experts have told The Times that violence is out of control and children as young as ten are being groomed by drug runners. It is vital that middle-class drug users take responsibility for their contribution to the surge in violent crime, they say.

In the first part of a series…