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The UK's leading researcher on gang-related gun crime has given an exclusive interview to The THES in which he calls for the UK to adopt deterrent sentencing pioneered in the US - after two girls were shot dead in Birmingham on new year's eve.

Nick Tilley, professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University, is seconded to the 51³Ô¹Ï Office's Crime Prevention Unit. He said research suggested that tough sentencing for possession of guns could be effective as part of a package of measures. In Boston, Massachusetts, this led to a drop of about 70 per cent in shooting homicides.

Professor Tilley said: "One man was sentenced to 19 years for the possession of a bullet. The message that carrying a weapon could carry with it a heavy sentence was actively promoted within the gang communities."