The shocking extent of gun crime in London was laid bare today as new figures revealed one person was killed or seriously injured in a shooting every three days in the capital last year.

Met Police statistics show 12 people were shot dead last year, while 89 sustained serious injuries.

The statistics, obtained by the Standard under Freedom of Information rules, showed that the total number of people threatened, shot at, injured or killed in a shooting rose by almost 80 per cent, compared to 2015 when there were 10 deaths, 52 serious injuries and 322 fewer serious offences.

The figures come as a top surgeon issued a warning over the handguns used by London street gangs which fire low-velocity rounds, causing devastating injuries to victims.

Last year, a total of 691 people were threatened with a gun, shot at, injured or killed in a firearms incident in London.

Twenty-seven people are believed to have been killed in shootings and stabbings in London so far this year, compared with 20 by this time in 2016.

Criminals fired a weapon on 744 occasions in the capital in 2016, compared with 427 the previous year – a rise of more than 74 per cent.

Senior Scotland Yard detectives said the rise in gun crime had led to a new initiative, Operation Viper, being set up to ensure Trident officers could provide a faster response to firearms incidents.

Police said by expanding tactics, in the past two years 1,400 firearms have been seized by police from the streets of the capital, including 93 handed in during a one-week gun amnesty in February.

Newham is the worst affected borough with 56 offences recorded in which a person was threatened with a gun, shot at, injured or killed in a shooting, followed by Hackney with 39 and Havering with 38.

They are followed by Waltham Forest (35) and Lambeth (33).

In terms of injuries, Brent had the worst record last year with two deaths and eight serious injuries.

So far this year, three people have been shot dead in London, all of them teenagers. In the first four months of last year just one person was fatally shot.

In March, sixth form student David Adegbite, 18, was gunned down on a housing estate in Barking and then two days later 19-year-old Abdifatah Sheikhey was shot at close range as he sat in a Mercedes car in a street in Ilford.

Earlier this month, 16-year-old Karim Samms was shot dead as he met a friend on his way home in North Woolwich. Another man in his 20s was also shot and injured in the reported drive-by shooting.

The teenager was about to become a qualified fitness instructor at Fight for Peace, a nearby boxing academy which trains and educates youths to keep them out of gangs.

Jacob Whittingham, head of programmes at the academy, told the Standard he feared the capital’s gun crime rate could be even higher as young people often feel too afraid to report incidents.

He said he believed that high levels of youth unemployment in deprived areas of London meant that teenagers were either “taking their frustrations out on each other” or turning to criminal activities to support their families.

The academy, where Karim trained regularly, uses boxing and martial arts to realise the potential of young people in communities affected by crime and violence and also offers educational courses.

Mr Whittingham added: “Karim was a huge personality. He was loved and respected. He was a person who trained with us regularly and he worked in a restaurant in south-east London.

“He was an example of what hard work and positivity can achieve. It’s been very tragic, shocking and traumatic for everyone but the way we have responded at the academy has been very positive.”

Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime said: “These figures are deeply worrying, and the Met has set up specific operations to drive down gun crime, with officers targeting known offenders and taking guns off the capital’s streets.

"Our new Police and Crime Plan also restores real neighbourhood policing, with more officers working in our local areas to fight crime and help keep Londoners safe.”

Detective Superintendent Tim Champion, of the Met’s Trident and Area Crime Command, said: “Following an increase in the number of gun crime incidents, Operation Viper was set up in May 2016.

"This has led to Trident officers being deployed in areas of high gun discharges and helped to provide an even faster response to firearms incidents.

“Trident officers have also proactively targeted known gun crime offenders and carried out intelligence-led weapon sweeps.

“In the past two years, Met officers have taken more than 1,400 firearms off the capital’s streets, including 93 handed in during a one-week gun surrender in February.

“The Met has also used the DIVERT programme to steer young people away from gun crime and into employment or development.”