'Mum, you need to help me': Family of teenager groomed by gang still fear for their lives as report finds thousands at risk
22 March 2024, 01:58
The mother of a teenage boy who was groomed by a gang has said they still live in fear, as a major report has found tens of thousands of children are at risk of exploitation across the UK.
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Criminals targeted Amanda*'s 14-year-old son and got him hooked on cannabis, before coercing him into dealing the drug for them.
"He believed they were his friends", she told LBC from a location we cannot disclose, as the gang still threaten them eight years on.
"He was asked to take some drugs somewhere... and it's a set up. He gets robbed for the drugs and he owes a debt. The debt continued."
By the time he told Amanda what was happening, he'd been in their grip for four years.
"It was a long time down the road when he came to me and said 'Mum, you need to help me... I'm in a lot of trouble and I don't know what to do'."
It was that night Amanda realised the true horror of her son's ordeal, as he had fought to keep his family safe.
"We had people come to our home threatening to hurt him or kill him if we didn't give them money. Myself and his siblings were being threatened - if he didn't do things we would be hurt.
"There were occasions where he [a gang member] knew where we were, and we were being followed."
He received a criminal record, but was eventually recognised as a victim.
The same day, Amanda says he experienced a severe psychotic breakdown. He now has PTSD, anxiety, and has attempted to take his own life on more than one occasion.
No gang member has ever been brought to justice in relation to his case.
Despite reporting this to the police and social services, the family are not under protection.
"We live day to day, and we don't feel safe in our home. It just keeps going", Amanda said.
"No one was listening to us - I called social services, the police, all sorts to try and get help and to understand."
She is speaking out because of the sheer lack of support she says the family and her son have received.
It comes as a major report for charity Action for Children has found tens of thousands of children are at risk of being exploited by criminal gangs.
Professor Alexis Jay, who authored the report, says they use the same tactics as groups who groom young people for sex - like the gang she investigated in Rotherham.
She found the system to deal with criminally exploited children is "not fit for purpose" as tens of thousands are at risk of being groomed, coerced and threatened into a life of violence, criminalisation and abuse.
The review calls for new offence of criminally exploiting children and a national strategy for preventing exploitation, as polling found over 130,000 parents said their child has experienced 3 or more signs of exploitation.
Professor Jay warned "the real scale of the problem is unknown", and found "serious and preventable harm is being caused to so many children and young people. What is required is a new system designed with the explicit purpose of tackling the criminal exploitation of children."
Paul Carberry, chief executive at Action for Children, said: "Exploiters are efficient at identifying, recruiting and exploiting vulnerable young people, and are often far better at spotting them than the authorities.
"We commissioned this review because the system is failing, piecemeal and letting down our most vulnerable children.
"This is an urgent and preventable crisis, and we call on the government, and all political parties in this election year, to come up with a credible UK wide strategy to prevent the criminal exploitation of children."
The Home Office said it was investing up to £5m to support victims, including funding programmes including a helpline for young people exploited by "county-lines" drug gangs.
An official called the "targeting, grooming and exploitation" "deplorable".
