In the corner of a stuffy courtroom in Stratford, east London, a distraught mother breaks down in tears as she tries to explain the behaviour of her teenage son — a “really good kid” who has never been in trouble before. Moments earlier, the 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to having a 25cm-long Rambo knife stuffed down his trousers when stopped by police as he walked his girlfriend home one evening.
“I feel like I’ve failed,” his father despondently tells the court, after explaining the efforts he’d put into teaching his son about right and wrong.
