A former gang member who learned to “load a gun before a washing machine” and spent more than five years in jail before performing at Glastonbury as a rapper has now said he feels “blessed” he did not kill someone as he called for greater support for young people at risk of a life of crime. Sachmo Quain, who goes by the name of Fatch, was facing more than a decade behind bars and had been shot three times by the time he was just 19 years old.
In 2009 he nearly died after a bullet struck a major artery in his leg, which he did not notice until he began running – which he said felt like someone was throwing “buckets of water” on his trousers as blood poured from the wound. Fatch was jailed later that year for firing a gun at rival gang members outside a nightclub in south London and spent the next five-and-a-half years behind bars, which is where he learned to “spit bars” with his cellmates and discovered his passion for music.
Today the 34-year-old artist has turned over a new leaf, having performed at Glastonbury music festival with his band The Fedz on BBC Music Introducing and hosting an online “6AM Club” which helps people “start their day on a positive note”. To tackle rising youth crime, he is also calling for more youth clubs, closer ties between local communities and the police, and for therapy to be offered in schools.
