Dylan says "no one's got the answer" to organised crime in Middlesbrough

Inside Hemlington Boxing Club in Middlesbrough, music is drowned out by the sound of gloves hitting pads.

For young men here, nights in the ring are far better than the alternative.

Because outside, away from the bright lights of the gym, riders wearing balaclavas roar past on quad bikes in the darkness.

"You see it all the time," says Dylan, a 20-year-old who trains at the club.

"But I just can't see it stopping. The police can't really do much against it."

Attention has turned to organised crime in Middlesbrough since seven people, including two police officers, were killed last month in a crash.

A Volkswagen Passat that had been pursued by officers travelled the wrong way along the A66 and collided head-on with a police car.

For young men like Dylan, who knew one of the lads killed, there are worries about how easy it is to get sucked into a criminal way of life.

"You could walk around the corner and there's just a gang of lads stood there and they shout you over," he says.

Dylan and other boxers tell BBC Newsbeat they blame a lack of safe activities and opportunities for young people in the area.

He says getting into the sport has kept them away from gangs on the streets.

"It stops you going down these bad tracks of crime, drugs, and what most of the lads my age are doing," he says.

"It's just not something I want to be involved in, really," says Dylan.

"I don't think anyone would, but some people just get forced down these routes."

Some of the lads at the boxing club had gone to school with men who died in the A66 crash

In a report published last month, external, the Centre for Social Justice found that north-east England has the highest rate of NEETs in the UK.

About one in five 16 to 24-year olds from the region is not in education, employment or training.

Dylan works as a joiner and says he's lucky to have found a job that "keeps you busy and keeps your brain active".

"I think that's where it's going wrong, because people haven't got anything to do," he says.

"So they go into [crime], and it just spirals from there.

"I wish it would all stop, but it's not going to because no-one's got the answer for it."

A month after the A66 crash that killed five young men and two police officers, BBC Newsbeat heads to a boxing club in Middlesbrough to hear what life is like in the area.

Listen on BBC Sounds or on Radio 1 at 12:45 and 17:45 BST.

Michael Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae and Cole Worthy, both 17, were killed in the crash, as were PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, who were in the police car.

Of the men in the Passat, only Michael Cahill had no convictions. The other four had 30 between them for crimes including car theft, drug possession, assaulting police officers and driving offences.

After the crash, the prime minister called on social media companies to take down posts celebrating dangerous driving.

TikTok posts from an account thought to belong to Makai Saddington had appeared to share this type of content.

Louis has dreams of pursuing sport as a career once he finishes college

Louis, 16, who also trains at Hemlington, says similar clips pop up "everywhere" on his own feeds.

"I've seen quite a few videos on driving cars at high speeds," he says. "I just don't think it's cool."

He says he'd known Theo Rae since the two were at primary school, and was shocked by news of the fatal crash.

Louis says the boxing gym gives him somewhere safe to spend his time, instead of chasing an adrenaline rush from breaking the law.

He wants more people to have access to "sports, or something they enjoy which isn't doing dangerous stuff".

Alex says he trusts police "to an extent" but crime has given Middlesbrough a bad reputation

Alex, 21, has been training at Hemlington for just over two years.

"If I wasn't here I'd just be out with my mates, or I'd just be sat at home doing nothing," he says.

For Alex, it's not hard to see how others end up spending their time out in the streets.

"Realistically, what are you going to do on a night?" he says.

"There's nothing to do. Everyone's just out and about, especially the kids."

"People find it a game almost, recording things for TikTok. It's a 'catch me if you can'."

Since the A66 crash, Alex says, his family has been telling him to "get out" of the area.

"You hear nothing good from Middlesbrough any more," he says.

"I wouldn't want to bring my kids up round here with all the stuff that's going on".

James says the gym is very important for the community and "keeps people out of trouble"

James, 24, who recently moved away to Peterlee, about an hour's bus ride north, says he used to see "quite a lot" of gang activity.

"It might be drugs or knife crime or little petty things," he says.

Cleveland Police has been criticised since the crash, and some residents previously told the BBC they'd "rather die" than dial 999 because their trust in the force was so low.

James and the other boxers who speak to Newsbeat take a more balanced view when it comes to the police, but agree more work is needed to improve relations.

The authorities need to "get to know the people more, understand the people more" to build trust, says James.

"I think the moment you relate to people, that's the moment you've opened the door to getting people's trust."

Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller tells Newsbeat the aftermath of the A66 crash has been hard for the force, with "an incredible amount of grief" for the two officers who died.

But, she says, the local area has been "portrayed in the national media in a way that we don't necessarily recognise".

"We appreciate there are issues here. We know that there are things that policing needs to do, others need to do to make this area feel safer and be safer," she says.

Fuller says a "minority" intent on causing harm "can have a real disproportionate impact on communities" and encouraged people to report problems.

She says the area should "be grateful" for lads like those at the boxing gym who'd chosen to "walk away" and not get involved in crime.

"We hope that people will look out for each other, spot signs of when people are getting drawn into crime and report it to us so that we can help people."

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

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