All parents need to hear this story of how a boy was groomed by a County Lines gang

15 November 2019, 12:10

This mother broke down live on LBC as she told of how her son was groomed by a County Lines gang

Speaking to Nick Ferrari to criticise drill music after it was revealed that YouTube has removed 83 videos over their connection to violence in the last six months.

But it was her story of how her son was groomed that really hit home with listeners.

"My son was exploited by violent criminals into County Lines. It's been five years of horror.

"They fed on his vulnerability. I think my divorce became the spiral of his vulnerability and I had no idea.

Sarah revealed that when her son was 17, he started getting into trouble, but she says she linked it to divorce rather than a gang culture because he never spent any time on the streets.

He went to school, she took him to his football club and he spent time with friends at home. But the criminals managed to groom him - and it ended very badly for the family.

Her son is now 23 and is in prison. The thing that upsets Sarah most is the position he now considers himself in.

"He recognises that he was groomed, but that is something that he's only admitted to me.

"I don't know what the future holds for him. His mind is so fractured, he's told me the only options are to stay in prison or to die.

"I'm very worried and it makes me feel like I didn't know enough and I didn't protect my child."

Nick told Sarah: "From one parent to another, this is not your fault. You are fighting against a sinister, dark, menacing, troubling world in which your son has gone to. It is not your fault."

Watch the full clip at the top of the page.