Living on the edge ... one violent day in the life of a youth court

I witnessed all these things in a day at Camberwell Green Youth Court in south London.

Magistrates dealt with a string of knife crimes, robberies and assaults as tensions simmered in the corridors outside.

My day in court came as it was announced that Police Community Support Officers will patrol London youth courts to encourage victims and witnesses to testify.

The officers were ever present as violence erupted over the slightest perceived disrespect between youths from different postcodes. Court security staff said it was a "matter of time" before the tensions claimed a life in or around the court itself.

One case dealt with a teenager who repeatedly slashed a 13-yearold boy on the hand with a kitchen knife after a row over a tackle in a football game. The 14-year-old boy tried to plunge the knife into the boy's neck, the court was told.

The attacker, from a broken home, stared at the ground and answered questions in one-word whispers. The court was told he had the speech ability of an eightyearold. He will be sentenced later.

The tension between youths from gangs in different areas was also evident. Police and guards had to step in when violence broke out between two teenage defendants.

One believed the other had "disrespected" him and told him he would be shot in revenge. After he was restrained he used his mobile to summon a gang of youths to wait for the boy outside.

As the boy left court the gang attacked him but he managed to escape when court staff intervened. Police were called and officers later found a weapon - a block of wood with a nail in it - discarded nearby.

One security guard said: "I have teenagers threatening to kill each other, or me when I intervene, all the time. There is a postcode turf war going on out there."

Once order was restored it was business as usual: a 15-year-old boy who had been caught in the street with a serrated lock knife by police was jailed.

Chairman of the bench John Campolini warned of a knife crime "epidemic" as he handed down an eight-month detention and training order.

He said: "We are dealing with a serious subject. Knife crime is a serious problem. You read the newspapers, you've seen the TV, the number of people being knifed to death in London. Knife carrying has to be stamped out."

And when the court finally shut for the day I emerged to experience some personal rough justice. My car had been towed away and I had to pay £260 for the privilege of driving it home.