Hastings ex-gang member to install bleed control kit in town to prevent knife crime deaths

Since turning his life around, Carl Scott has dedicated himself to helping young people avoid a life of crime through his job as a support worker for drug and alcohol misuse.

Now, he is set to install life-saving equipment in the town in an attempt to make the community safer.

Bleed control kits, which contain bandages, tourniquets and a foil blanket, are used in the case of someone being involved in an incident which would cause a catastrophic bleed.

The aim is for members of the public to be able to reduce the bleeding until an ambulance arrives, potentially increasing chances of survival.

Mr Scott chose the town centre as the first location for a kit after considering where crimes are ‘most likely to happen’, and plans to install more across East Sussex.

He said: “As knife crime in the UK is at a all time high, there are many of us who are trying to keep our communities safe.

"There’s nothing in the area of the sort up to yet, so I’ll be first person who’s doing it.”

Due to his past experience as a gang member, Mr Scott feels extremely passionate about ensuring others don’t make similar mistakes.

He said: “The generation at the moment are so influenced by what goes on around them.

“You’ve got your social influencers and your rappers talking about gangs and drug dealers.

"Kids are easily groomed and exploited into these things.

“I’ve been that person. That was me growing up and I know how dangerous that life can be.”

Mr Scott also added that there has unfortunately been some resistance to the installation of the kit.

He said: “There’s a lot of stigma around installing these boxes as people don’t realise there is a lot of knife crime in the area.

“But people need to understand that these aren’t just used for knife crime.

"They can be used for incidents like a car crash down the road where someone’s got a catastrophic bleed, or an elderly person could have fallen over.

“There are so many ways these kits can help people. It’s just to save someone’s life.”