Disturbing footage has emerged online showing drill gangs running riot in the Knightswood area of Glasgow, where tragic schoolboy Amen Teklay lived before he was stabbed to death last year. Videos on social media feature sinister clips soundtracked with ultra-violent drill hip-hop music, filmed near the Kingsway flats, which the Kingsway Boys gang—also known as Kway—claim as their home territory.
Violent Clashes Captured on Video
In one video, set to the drill track Demon by Flock, a gang of hooded youths is seen chasing teenagers in a park near the flats. The mob wields weapons above their heads and screams wildly as two teens manage to escape. However, one victim is caught after falling to the ground and is immediately set upon. A yob stamps on his head, while others aim kicks and strike him with sticks and poles. One gang member leans over and repeatedly punches his face. The clip ends as the young man staggers to his feet and runs away.
Another video, featuring the song Bang Your Doors by driller WatchItLock, shows around 20 Kway members, all hooded and dressed in black, roaming through a shopping centre in Clydebank looking for a rival group. Police cars are also filmed in the area as the gang moves through.
Social Media Profiles Glorify Violence
The drill gangs post profiles of their members—referred to as "young gunners"—on social media. These images show hoods with faces covered, sometimes holding weapons, boasting about wins and losses. One profile features a defiant masked Kway member called MK, displaying a list of people he has chased and robbed, as well as occasions where he was jumped and walked away from a fight. Another more sinister profile shows a youth from the HSB gang holding a large machete while sticking up his middle finger.
Connection to Amen Teklay's Murder
Amen Teklay died after being stabbed through the heart with a sword in Glasgow in March of last year. Evidence relating to the Kingsway Boys was heard in court. In the days leading up to his death, the schoolboy was filmed being chased by three masked boys with huge knives on Dumbarton Road in Glasgow's west end. Another clip shows Amen being battered by four male youths on Great Western Road, where he was cornered against a shop window and repeatedly punched before falling to the ground.
Two youths were cleared of his murder last week, and the court heard they were linked to the TCB (Taking Care of Business) drill gang from the Tollcross area of Glasgow. A drill video filmed outside a shop on Tollcross Road shows masked TCB members flashing gun signs and rapping about drug dealing and stabbing people.
Drill Culture's Spread to Scotland
Drill music originated in Chicago over a decade ago before spreading to London. The Record previously reported on reformed gangster Graeme Armstrong warning that drill culture was creeping into Scotland after the murder of 14-year-old Justin McLaughlin in Glasgow in 2021. A vile photograph taken by young gang members taunting the victim's family was sent to Justin's aunt, showing youths making hand signals identical to those used by London drill gangs.
Armstrong said: "The hand signals started in America and it was adopted by London boys. Drill artists are now singing about selling crack in estates in London. That troubles me because drill, as a genre, is dedicated to violence. It’s about shooting people, killing people, stabbing. There’s no redemption in it, and that’s what young guys these days are finding online and it’s what they’re copying."
