The old lady felt a painful crack as her cheekbone hit the pavement, and she desperately tried to shield her face from the blows as two of the girls kicked her several times before running off.

Sadly, female violence is no longer a rarity on Britain’s streets.

Home Office figures reveal crime among girls has rocketed by 25 per cent in the last three years.

Peaches, 32, knows all about life in a gang, having once terrorised the streets of north-west London where she lived.

“I was robbing people and beating them up for fun,” she says.

“I hung round the streets with a group and we shoplifted, robbed, and intimidated people because we were loud.”

Peaches was in and out of care as a child.

Her parents had split up and her mum was in a violent relationship with a man Peaches didn’t get on with.

“When I was about 13, I turned to the streets,” she says.

“I found I got the attention and companionship there that I was missing out on at home.

“I was arrested a few times and got a criminal record for robbery.

"We’d threaten people and take their handbags or money, then run. I never used a knife – I’d bully and frighten people to get what I wanted.

"Even though I’m only 5ft 2in, I could be quite intimidating.”

The day before her 16th birthday, Peaches had a daughter, Sherena.

The father was her partner at the time, a teenage hip-hop and reggae artist she met through a friend.

He was too young to take responsibility as a dad back then, but they stayed in touch and he’s now involved in his daughter’s life.

Peaches’ mother, who had left her violent relationship, looked after Sherena while Peaches went back to her criminal ways.

At 18, she got a council house which became a hang-out for street gangs.

“I was smoking weed and drinking, but crack wasn’t a big thing back then.

"A few people carried knives around, but most of us just relied on our fists,” she says.

A recent report by the Youth Justice Board shows that teenage girls are responsible for more than 40 attacks every day in the UK.

Disturbingly, much of this is down to the growing trend for girls to join gangs – or ‘crews’ – that cause violence and mayhem on the streets.

According to Decima Francis of the From Boyhood To Manhood Foundation, which works with young people to tackle gun and knife crime, Peaches is typical of the kind of girl who ends up in a gang.

“Girls who encounter violence and abuse are more likely to turn to violence themselves.

"If they’re not succeeding in education and the street is providing them with a kind of attention and with love and money, that’s where they go,” she says.

Decima thinks the growing number of girls in gangs is symptomatic of the wider problem of violence among young people.

“Violence is the norm in youth culture,” she explains.

“Young people think everyone is afraid of them and no one can touch them.

"Through TV, films and culture we teach them violence is acceptable.”

Peaches adds: “I think the News of the World’s Save Our Streets campaign will be helpful in bringing people together to face up to what’s going on.

"I think that’s vital.”

The campaign was launched in May this year to put a stop to the rising tide of gang violence in Britain.

Peaches’ life finally changed tack when she was sent to prison at the age of 20 on charges of robbery, fraud and deception.

“When I got locked up was when I really understood motherhood,” she says.

“I missed my daughter. She was five when I went in and I only saw her twice in two years.

“My mum was in another relationship by then, so my daughter ended up in foster care.

"That’s when I realised that I needed to take ownership of her.”

After her release, Peaches did a degree in drama and education and now runs a company called Reality Bytes UK, working with young people who feel socially excluded.

Best of all, she has cared for 16-year-old Sherena herself for the past eight years.

“Our relationship is stronger than ever, and I’m so proud of the way I’ve brought her up,” Peaches says.

“She has a real energy and determination about her own future.

"With Sherena, I have broken the cycle of violence.”

What do you think about gang violence? What do you think is the solution to gang culture? Have you ever been in a gang? Have you been threatened or intimidated by a gang?

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Additional reporting: Stewart Whittingham Photography: Kalpesh Lathigra, Men Syndication Girl gang photo posed by models
Hair and Make-up: Sara Bowden