𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Valentina Locci, whose 15-year-old son Leonardo Reid was killed in Islington, north London, by gang members, said it was right that drill lyrics had been used to bring Leonardo’s killers to justice.

She said lyrics about someone’s death were “the most horrifying thing” for a member of a family to hear.

Locci said: “If it’s OK for you to write about a dead person then it should be OK for us to use them [the lyrics] in court to help bring justice.”

A spokesperson for Art Not Evidence said they welcomed the Met Police’s recognition that care and safeguards were needed when putting rap and drill music evidence before juries.

“The question is whether the safeguards currently in place are sufficient,” they said.

“Experience has shown that creative expression is still used in ways that invite prejudicial assumptions about criminality or gang membership, despite having limited or no relevance to the offence being tried.”

They called for “clear statutory safeguards” so that the music was only used when it was “genuinely relevant, reliable and not unduly prejudicial”.

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