Ex criminal gang member now helps turn youths away from knife crime after friend was stabbed to death

Carl Scott, 42, spent 22 years in and out of prison for drug and burglary-related crimes. But, he turned his life around after watching his friend die from a stab wound to the heart. Now, in a powerful video (click to play above), he shares his new anti-knife crime initiative - which has already saved someone’s life.

Since 2023, Carl has been installing bleed control kits across Sussex and London, and teaching professionals how to use the life-saving equipment. He said: "I've already engaged with 165 professionals that we've trained on bleed control up and down the country. We've successfully installed 17 bleed control cabinets across Sussex and two at London Bridge which we found out the other day one was used to save someone's life.

Carl left prison for the last time in 2013 and knew he wanted to make a change after meeting his partner, Karla, 32, co-owner of the Youth Project. He began volunteering at a local drug and alcohol addiction service, and also began helping police - who were looking for ex-gang members to lead talks to encourage others to take a different path.

Drug dealing and robbing people

Carl's life of crime began when he was just 13 years old. He said: "I was holding onto drugs a lot and delivering drugs to people. £20 to a kid is a lot of money if you're not getting any money at home. Nicking car stereos - back in the 90s car stereos you used to be able to get quite a bit of money for them.” He also began robbing people in the street for money and baseball caps, and said his drug dealing got ‘worse’.

He admitted that while his parents were furious about his lifestyle, he got ‘so much excitement’ out of what he was doing, and wasn’t ‘scared of anything or anyone’. Carl, from Hastings, Sussex, said: "I've led let's say 22 years of just pure dysfunctional lifestyle, doing as I please. I was in and out of prison and I had a heart of rock, I didn't like anyone, I hated the world.”

Carl started to realise it wasn't the life he wanted when his friend died in front of him. He said: "When I turned 16, a friend of mine was wrapped up with this gang. My pal froze as we were run up on and this other guy ran up and stabbed him in the chest. Once they ran off, I ran up to Leighton and I picked up and he died in my arms - a stab wound to the heart. I always said I'd name my son after him, and I did. Two weeks after that I had a scrap with a lad from a different estate and got stabbed in the thigh with a carving knife."

Turned away from gang crime

Carl's last sentence was in 2011 when he was locked up for two years for intent to supply. Following his release, Carl continued to be in and out of gang life until 2016, when he suffered a liver disease and decided enough was enough - and says the support of his partner, Karla, inspired him to change. "I managed to conquer it and I put a stop on taking any drugs and for the first time I tried to live like a normal civilian - stepping away from any gangs or crimes for good."

After working a number of volunteering roles helping young people turn their back on crime, Carl and Karla launched their own business, Project Youth, in April 2023 - when they started installing the bleed control kits, and offering workshops and one to one mentoring for young people.

"When I'm around these families that have lost loved ones to knife crime it makes me think about why I used to carry a knife - why did I do that? So that's what makes us do this."