Four masked gang members crashed a car through a garden fence then assaulted a young person and his dad - prompting armed police to be scrambled to the scene.

The horrifying incident unfolded at a Bradford house and was witnessed by two young children, both aged under five.

Details of the incident emerged in a damning report looking at the work of Bradford Youth Offending Team (YOT). 

More details of the full report here

In one inspected case highlighted by the report, inspectors found potential gang-related activity was not recorded on a young person’s file.

A gang subsequently assaulted the young person and a family member, leading to an armed response from the police. Following this incident, staff did not review the initial assessment or seek further details from children’s social services or the police.

Mr Russell added: “This was a serious incident and we would have expected to see a more robust response from the YOT to ensure the young person’s safety. Bradford YOT needs to improve the way staff identify and mitigate risks urgently.”

The report said line managers countersigned assessments in which there were a number of deficiencies.

Giving a case study of such instances, the report said “Kyle (a false name provided to protect the young boy's identity) was sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order. He was involved in criminal activity, possibly gang related, but the extent of this was not recorded on the assessment. There was a significant incident at his home, where a car was crashed through a garden fence and four masked men assaulted the young person and his father. This resulted in the police armed response unit being called to the house. There were two children under five at the address who witnessed the offence. The assessment was not reviewed following this incident, and no further enquiries were made with either children’s social care or the police for more information in relation to the event”.