Aylesbury young offender institution, in Buckinghamshire, houses 440 of Britain’s most violent and disturbed young male criminals. Here, four inmates talk candidly about their knife crimes.

CRAIG, 19
SERVING 13 YEARS FOR MURDER

I left school at 16 and started getting into fights twice a week. I was hanging about with a bad crowd, and my mates thought that if you got beaten up, you were a pussy. My brother gave me a lock knife because he knew what kind of trouble I was in and that some of the people I was fighting would have knives. One day I was walking through town with my girlfriend and this guy started making gestures. I told him to shut up, and he headbutted me. He threw me to the floor while his mate kicked me in the head, then started slamming my head into the pavement.

I thought: I’ve got to do something here or I won’t be getting up. I knew he was behind me, so I stabbed him over my shoulder. I couldn’t see him. One stab went in his heart, one through the nose, one in the back and one in the stomach. He died an hour and a half later, and I handed myself in that night.

Carrying a knife was the biggest mistake of my life. I didn’t even think about it at the time – it was like carrying a mobile phone. By the time I’m out of here, I’ll be 31. I think [civilian] national service [for those who commit offences involving knives] is a good idea. If you’re in a gang and your mates see you doing that, it’s an embarrassment – whereas prison is seen as a symbol of respect.

CHARLIE, 20
SERVING TWO YEARS FOR GBH

I feel lucky I haven’t killed anyone. If I hadn’t gone to prison, I probably would have. My mum and my dad were both heroin addicts, and I grew up in a war zone. I started getting involved in crime when I was 13 – silly little bits of stealing and common assaults – but it escalated when I was expelled from school and got into drug dealing.

If I let someone insult me, my friends would see it as a weakness and try to take advantage. Fear and respect were all I had. I started carrying a lock knife when I was 14 because it made me feel safer. When I was 18, I was walking with my girlfriend back to her house when this guy tried to chat her up. I hit him on the forehead with a champagne bottle and when he ran past me I stabbed him in the back near his kidney. I got eight months, which was reduced to four, but I felt like I dealt with the situation in an acceptable way. I felt like I got away with it.

Then, three months after coming out, I was drinking and doing a lot of cocaine. I went to this party and sort of blacked out. I remember having a fight with someone who wouldn’t let us in, then stabbing him in the shoulder. It was pure rage. I was angry with my parents, my family, the world, and it all came out when I was drinking.

I’m glad I’m in prison now. It’s calmer in here, without the drugs and the drink. I keep my emotions to myself; I’m learning more about who I am. When I get out, I want to live with my mum and learn a trade. It’s not the knives that are the problem; it’s the world we live in.

AARON, 20
SERVING FIVE YEARS FOR GBH AND CONSPIRACY TO ROB

When I was 14, I picked up a little flick knife at a store in Oxford Street. I’d been kicked out of school and I’d started dealing drugs – and if you’re doing that, you need protection. My dad was in jail, my mum was ill, and me and my brothers and sisters were all angry with the world.

Then I started getting into robbing people for extra money – when you’re that age, a couple of grand extra is nice. Shortly after my 16th birthday, my friends were robbing this old guy and I tried to stop them. I was a criminal, but you don’t go robbing children, elderly people or women. I’m trying to help this dude when a member of the public comes and punches me in the face. He’s trying to wrestle me to the ground, and I thought: if I stab this guy, he’ll let me go. So I stabbed him in the leg.

When I went to jail, it was tough. I was upset that the reason I ended up stabbing someone was because I was trying to help a member of the public. But I regret it. I didn’t want to injure the dude – I’m a snatch-and-run guy, not looking for a fight.

Prison has changed me. I’ve got my qualifications and would like to be a chef or to work with kids.

ASHLEY, 20
SERVING EIGHT YEARS FOR MANSLAUGHTER

I was 17 and at this house in north London when this couple started having an argument. Then this boy and his mates suddenly turned on me, saying: “What you doing here? You’re not from this area.” I was afraid, so I drew my knife. I was brandishing them off with it, but suddenly I was piggy-in-the-middle, and this guy jumped up and fly-kicked my leg. I still had the knife out, and as a reflex action I ended up stabbing him. I stabbed him in the heart. I’d never used my knife before. I carried it because I thought it would stop things happening, but I was wrong. I didn’t realise what I’d done. I was sitting on the stairs, holding my head in my hands as people were shouting out: “He’s dead. He’s dead.”

I know what I done is wrong, that there’s no way I can tell his mum that her son is coming home. I came in here young but I’m gonna leave with a man’s body and mind. I want to be an electrician, learn a trade. But you shouldn’t have to go to prison to get a job – there needs to be more work on prevention.

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