Young Reoffenders – Part One

In a new episode of Rule Britannia, VICE meets “Saky’s Finest” – a gang of young reoffenders based on the Saxton Road estate in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Locked into a cycle of reoffending and going to jail, some of these guys have spent so much of their youth in Young Offenders’ Institutes that they’d rather be back inside than in the real world.

20-year-old Coopz is looking at a serious stretch in adult jail after being recently bailed in connection with the attempted robbery of a local shop. Ross and Nathan, who at 27 are considered the “olders” of the group, both try to stop him from going down the same paths they did.

We also meet Pitts, arguably the most institutionalised member of the gang, who has only seen the outside world for a matter of weeks in the last six years. Now out, he just wants to have fun, get pissed and fight – as well as settling an old score with Reggie, the local store owner, for something that happened 12 years ago.

​@rdrhysjames