Page 47 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

use term “gang” unless there is evidence to support that assertion. 138 We
welcome this helpful clarification for prosecutors. However, to counter and
root out potential unconscious bias in the prosecution of gangs, the CPS must
ensure that it reviews every decision to adduce gang association for
accuracy and racial bias and explore different ways of prosecuting crimes
perpetrated by groups of children and young adults.

Drill Music as Evidence

2.50 We are also concerned by the increase in use of Drill music evidence in trials.
Drill is a musical genre that first arose in London estates consisting of rap
accompanied by a trap beat. Lyrics are intended to shock and are often violent
and sexual, with artists using exaggeration and dramatic license to create
impact. 139 The CJS has come to [mis]construe Drill as a form of realism,
depicting what the artists have directly seen, heard and done. 140 As a
consequence, lyrics are often adduced as biographical, and therefore
admissible evidence. The police, in particular, frequently see Drill as an
incitement of violence, from one gang against another. Therefore, anyone
involved in the production of songs chosen as evidence, or who appear in the
music videos of those songs, are considered potential gang members. This
viewpoint has led to Drill artists, the majority of which are young Black men
and boys, 141 being subject to injunctions that prohibit them from creating Drill,

138 The CPS has published guidance which provides a summary of the relevant principles and case law
to be applied when making charging decisions in gang related offences and when seeking to use gang
related evidence in proceedings – see, ‘Gang related offences – Decision making in’ CPS.
139 Drill videos often consist of a large group of children and young adults congregating, with many
simply being in the background. On occasions, weapons are used as props in the videos. Those who
produce Drill music see commercial success as a possible route out of the life they lead and therefore
aim to be popular and to garner fame. They do this through creating music that is an artistic reflection
of what they see around them. Lyrics are often in the first person but they are also stories of what the
artists see and hear; a blend of reality and fiction. Drill artists take on a persona when they perform and
do not consider their music to be biographical.
140 This different view may have been driven by high profile cases where there was a direct link between
what was said in a Drill video and a crime that took place soon after. However, we consider the current
approach of the CJS has used exceptions to make a rule, as the vast majority of Drill is not tangibly
connected with crimes and is merely a manifestation of a culture that is often viewed with suspicion.

141 “The vast majority of the defendants were young black men and boys. We identified a total of 232
people facing trial in the 67 cases. Only eight of them were female. Almost half were teenagers.” See -
S. Swann, ‘Drill and rap music on trial’ BBC, 13 January 2021.

40