Craig's story:

Mr. Winters-Dixon said that as a former black Crip in Pasadena, he lived in an area where "there were only two Crip gangs surrounded by four Blood gangs".

"We were hunted," he said. "I had to watch where I went and that's no way to go.

"Once you start banging you're cornered as to where you want to go. You're always looking behind your back and looking for who is going to pull a trigger on you."

Mr. Winters-Dixon, 28, said: "Those dreams inside you are there for a reason. So remember, 'I will graduate from school, I will go to college'.

"I was out to be the biggest, baddest hustler. But instead of running from my dream I started running towards it.

"So stop running from your dreams, and start running to them. Once you do that, the sky is the limit."