Horror movie

The pictures showing the horrific head and neck injuries of a teenage stab victim feature in a DVD produced by Strathclyde Police in partnership with youth groups in Glasgow and council agencies.

The film also includes real-life footage of graphic street fights and candid interviews with thugs who talk about the "adrenaline buzz" of fighting.

In one scene, a teenager lies defenceless on the ground as a gang beat him repeatedly with baseball bats.

In another, a young man is shown in his hospital bed after being stabbed, covered in blood and with a large chunk out of his hand.

The DVD will to be shown to P7 pupils throughout the West of Scotland - at the discretion of their head teacher who will consult parents - in order to bring home to them the consequences of violence, territorialism and alcohol abuse.

But as harrowing as the images are, especially for such a young audience, police chiefs make no apology for the hard-hitting content - because, they say, there are communities who witness scenes like this all the time.

Assistant Chief Constable John Neilson, who is responsible for community safety, said: "I've been asked lots of questions today. Is a DVD going to stop violence? No of course it is not.

"Is the film hard-hitting? Yes: but no more hard-hitting than the scenes which communities experience sometimes on a daily basis. It doesn't stand in isolation, it's part of a wider strategy of trying to target violence."

"People are actually experiencing this. There are children who are seeing their brothers and sisters involved in gang violence. And it's only hard-hitting to us because we don't live in these communities.

The DVD also features the mother of a teenager scarred for life in a machete attack.

Karen Timoney, of Easterhouse, is shown reliving the night her schoolboy son was slashed on the head, arms and hands, in a brutal unprovoked assault.

Now 15, the youngster lost his left-hand ring finger and one year on is preparing to have a further operation to help him lead a normal life.

The attack, reported in the Evening Times at the time, happened in September last year.

No arrests were ever made.

Karen says on the film: "I am the mother of a son who was brutally attacked. He was 13 at the time, coming home from McDonald's.

"He was brutally attacked by a gang who were all in their 20s. As a family we have been affected by this every single day."

"He still requires further surgery. He had two massive gashes to his head and his hands have been severely damaged by the machete, to the extent that he lost one of his fingers.

"This has had a massive impact upon our lives as a family, it affects where we live and our sense of safety."

And she backed the use of the film to make kids think about the consequences of violence.

"I hope this DVD reaches out to young people and makes them realise the impact gang fighting can have on young people."

Karen and her daughter, also Karen, 24, attended the high-profile launch of the new DVD in Glasgow's Parish Halls yesterday.

Youth worker Stephen Granger, of InnerZone Youth Club in Wellhouse, said: "These images have got to be shown.

"We are showing gang fighting as it is. There is no glamour."

The DVD will become part of a new educational package to be used by teachers, police, community and youth groups.

There is also a sobering scene which features the father of Hugh Burns, a 12-year-old boy who drowned in the Clyde as he tried to escape a gang in Carmyle in the city's East End.

Hugh senior, 46, who lost his son 11 years ago, says: "Hugh was 12 when he died. He was being chased by a gang.

"Just imagine how your mum and dad would feel if you got involved in gang fighting."

Images on the film are pulled from CCTV footage held by police forces across Scotland.

The 15-minute DVD has already been shown to some P7 classes in the East End of Glasgow and it will be available to both primary and secondaries across the Strathclyde force's area.