The lost boys

Sally Williams meets the heartbroken parents of children groomed by UK drug barons

IT ALL STARTED IN 2013. It still pains Sophia* that she didn’t fully see what was going on. But how could she have known? Her son Lewis was a sporty boy – liked playing football – but four years ago, he was caught by police trying to bury a large kitchen knife in the park. Lewis was 12.

Sophia asked her son why. ‘He wouldn’t answer. He has never disclosed anything. He always says, “Because I want to.”’ What she didn’t realise was that Lewis was already following orders. All she could see was that her son was changing.

He started having rages, angry outbursts, being disruptive in class. ‘I said, “Lewis, are you being bullied?” And he got very angry and upset. “No, no, Mum, I’m not. Why would someone like me get bullied? I’m not a pussy, only pussies get bullied, why would I get bullied?” That was his way of saying yes, and he felt ashamed that he wasn’t tougher.’

In January of this year, Lewis was found with a machete in his rucksack in school. ‘That is when it spiralled out of control,’ says Sophia. ‘My son is not a violent boy, he is placid, quiet, caring, kind-hearted. He would do anything for anybody – and that is the problem.

‘His behaviour became very odd,’ she continues. One weekend at the

end of April, he took a packet of condoms out of his rucksack. ‘I said, “What’s that? Have you got a girlfriend?” He replied, “Some guys took me to the clinic the other day to get these.” I said, “What for?” And he didn’t answer me. Then he got really upset, went into a rage and started throwing things around the room. He said, “Mum, I’m going to run away, I can’t take any more.”’ Again, Sophia thought he must have been being bullied. But it was much more than that.

‘He wanted to get away from these people,’ she now realises. ‘But he couldn’t because they’d obviously threatened him.’

On 2 May, Lewis went missing. Three weeks later he was found with £600 in cash and 83 wraps of class A drugs in a crack den in Northampton, 70 miles away from home. He was 16. ‘He had been screaming out for help,’ Sophia says. ‘And everyone missed the warning signs.’

According to Home Office figures, 140,000 young people go missing in Britain every year. They disappear for a multitude of reasons: family conflict, addiction, financial breakdown, mental health issues. But in recent years, Missing People, one of the charities backed by the Telegraph in this year’s Christmas Appeal, has picked up on a previously under-reported group who go missing: children being groomed to traffic drugs.

As a report from the National Crime Agency (NCA) made clear this week, inner-city gangs have expanded their operations and started selling drugs into lucrative markets in rural or coastal areas and small towns. Known as ‘county lines’ – areas targeted for expansion are commonly ‘county’ towns and the ‘line’ is the specific telephone number used for dealing – the trade is mainly in crack cocaine and heroin.

Once a new area is identified, the gangs set up a base for rest, refuge, storage and distribution of drugs, weapons and money. These are secured through ‘cuckooing’ – slang for taking over someone’s home, often with the use of weapons. Addicts are popular targets. Violence is commonplace as gangs fight each other (and local drug dealers) over turf.

Children and teenagers are recruited to perform the risky job of courier, or runner; moving drugs and cash between the new market and the urban base. They are sent out of cities such as London and Manchester in cars, taxis, buses or trains and, once at their destination, deliver the drugs to users in pre-arranged meeting places. Recruiters can be very assiduous – even teaching children how to ‘plug’ – hide – drug-filled condoms in their anus (or vagina for girls; both males and females are used).

Young people are valued because they are cheap, susceptible and unimprisonable until the age of 18. Another reason, according to Josie Allan, policy and campaigns manager for Missing People, is ‘it distances the point of arrest. If a child is picked up with drugs in, say, Oxfordshire, it is very hard to connect them back to the adult based in London who sent them there.’ Some runners are very young. There are reports of 12-year-olds from London operating county lines as far away as Cornwall and south Wales. Children can disappear for days or weeks at a time. In one case encountered by Missing People a young person was out of contact for three months. And absences are often serial. Children return home for a day or two, and then leave again.

It is a dangerous world to be in – county line gang members use extreme violence to enforce their power over young drug runners. They also apply financial pressure. ‘If a child loses the drugs or is picked up by the police and the drugs are taken, the child holds the debt for whatever they have lost, whether it’s their fault or not,’ says Allan. Some ‘muggings’ are actually staged by gang members as a way of keeping a child in line.

What is being discovered now is profoundly changing the way child grooming is understood. According to the NCA, police are aware of 720 county lines across England and Wales, and it is thought thousands of young people are caught up in these networks. And Missing People has contributed greatly to raising awareness. The charity published its own report, Running the Risks: the Links Between Gang Involvement and Young People Going Missing, in 2015. It is also helping to run the all-party parliamentary group on Runaway and Missing Children and Adults, which has highlighted the issue of county lines. ‘As recently as March this year, it was still an emerging issue,’ says Allan. ‘Even some police forces weren’t aware of it.’

Sophia, in her late 40s, is a volunteer community worker in an NHS alcohol treatment service. She separated from Lewis’s father when Lewis was a young child. They live in London and parental care is shared: Lewis lives with his father during the week and with his mother at weekends.

Lewis, she says, was ‘shy, quite closed with his feelings’, but otherwise ‘bright, good at sport, writing, English, art, history’. She traces the beginning of his troubles to his secondary school, which is in a gang-dominated part of their city.

The need to survive at school and fit in has a significant impact on a child’s behaviour, according to Judith Rich Harris, an American psychologist. Outside influences, she believes, such as popular culture, friends or street gangs, have a much greater influence on children than parents, or even genetic make-up. The youthful urge to impress peers can override even the most orderly, well-run upbringing.

Sophia still doesn’t know where her son was groomed – in school, at the school gate, or the bus stop – but it’s possible it wasn’t done by strangers. The seduction, she says, was ‘very gradual and meticulous, you don’t even notice it. There is a pattern that is very similar to sexual exploitation.’ It starts with bribery: gifts – new trainers, maybe, or a phone. ‘I think Lewis was shown huge amounts of money,’ she says. And the kindness can feel authentic and embracing.

Lewis, a fan of rap, started playing Youtube videos of drill music – a dark and violent offshoot of grime music. Gang culture in south London is very much linked to the drill rap scene. In August, London mayor Sadiq Khan urged Youtube to step up efforts to remove extreme content after it refused to take down four violent videos, showing gang members threatening rivals and describing how they would murder them, as rap music plays in the background.

‘He’d watch them repeatedly,’ says Sophia, ‘as though he was possessed, brainwashed almost. And one day, he said, “They’ve asked me to be in one of their videos.” And I said, “What do you mean?” Now we know it was part of the grooming process, to make him think he was going to be famous and make loads of money.’

But there is also intimidation, she says. They use threats, make you worry about getting shot, being messed with, people hurting your family. The violence starts and never goes away. ‘They carry guns,’ she says.

And on 2 May, the phone rang. ‘It was his father. He said, “Is Lewis with you?” I said, “No. Why?” He said, “He went out last night and didn’t come back.”

‘I went straight to the police station and reported him missing. They said, “You normally have to wait 24 hours at least.” And I replied, “This is not normal.”’

The police wouldn’t listen. ‘They said, “Maybe he’s with his mates, looking for girls. A lot of teenagers go missing and then turn up after a few days.” But I just

‘He had been screaming out for help. And everyone missed the warning signs’

knew there was something sinister going on. I was calling and calling him. I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t eating, I was an emotional wreck.’

The police referred her to Missing People – the charity is working with the NCA to map gang-related disappearances. It also offers a free 24-hour helpline for the families of missing young people. ‘I don’t know what I would have done without them,’ says Sophia, ‘At, two, three, four in the morning, I’d talk to them until I was exhausted, so exhausted I couldn’t sleep. When your child goes missing, it’s like your whole heart has been ripped out. Part of you also goes missing. That’s how close I was to Lewis. And for somebody to just come in and rip that away – all the talent, the gifts, the football, the music, everything – is barbaric.’

‘It’s not just the fact the child has gone missing, it’s the way they’ve gone missing,’ says Shane Hemsley, family support senior coordinator at Missing People. ‘Agency workers don’t appear to grasp that Lewis, and others like him, did not choose to be active gang members, they were groomed and exploited, which is a marked difference,’ adds Sophia. Parents struggle not only with anxiety and guilt (could I have done more?) but also anger at those who see their children as morally culpable.

‘It can be very hard for these families to have their voices heard,’ says Hemsley. ‘For example, the Youth Offending Service is designed to deal with offenders, but Missing People is there for the victims. They can voice their frustration to us and that is a really valuable part of what we do,’ he adds.

When Lewis was found in Northampton, he was ‘in a terrible state’, says his mother. ‘Dressed like a tramp and covered in grime. He had obviously not slept, washed or eaten. They don’t care about these boys, all they care about is the money. When we were coming home on the coach, he started opening up about things – now he’s closed off again. He’d seen a gun, he’d seen an addict injecting heroin. And he said, “Mum, I felt really sorry for him, but I had to give it to him because he needed it.”’

Lewis was moved to a safe house in another borough for a few weeks. ‘I did some shopping, and he asked me to buy some ingredients,’ says his grandfather, Stanley. ‘He baked some teacakes for us.’ But Lewis is now back with his father on the estate where he lived when it all started. ‘I have warned the Youth Offending Service and children’s services that they are placing him in danger,’ says his mother. Her main support, still, is Missing People, which also provides ongoing help for those whose missing children have returned.

Gabrielle is an administrator in her late 40s, and single mother to Charlie. She took her son on holidays, accompanied him to athletics meetings, basketball and football matches – even became manager of his basketball team. ‘He was brought up around people who loved him,’ she says.

Early in 2012, Charlie made an announcement. ‘Every day he would be training or playing matches for one sport or another – he was very keen and motivated. Then this weekend he was lying on his bed and not ready. When I went into his room he said, “I just don’t fancy it today.”’ She thought he needed rest and assumed the apathy would be temporary. ‘Then it happened every week. He disconnected and dropped everything.’ He was 14.

She was surprised he was so keen to see ‘friends’. ‘But I thought, he’s at secondary school, hormones all over the place. Then it became apparent he was being very disruptive at school. Teachers started raising concerns. I was shocked. He had been absolutely fine before this. That was the start of the grooming – they get you to disengage from school and family.’

Charlie, who used to be home by 4pm, was now not back until 8-9pm. And then only briefly, before he headed out again.

The more Gabrielle challenged him and asked where he’d been, the more aggressive he became. ‘He’d shout, “Been out. And what? AND WHAT?” You know – a real serious attitude, really disrespectful, and you’re in turmoil because he’s your loving child – you’d always done things together – and for them to turn is devastating.’

From the inside, a gang can seem welcoming and hospitable. A family. And criminality can create intimacy. One evening Charlie came home in a

pair of Levi’s after leaving the house that morning in a tracksuit. ‘They swap clothes,’ says Gabrielle. He also came home with a different mobile – a payas-you-go Nokia (for dealing) – but had lost his Samsung. ‘They took it.’

Charlie went missing later that year. ‘A friend and I were searching for him all night, not really knowing where to look, but assuming he would be somewhere local.’ She made 20, 30 phone calls to the police.

‘They said, “Are you sure he’s not doing this because he wants to?” And I’d reply, “Even if he does, he’s a minor, he’s not going to school, he’s not coming home, he’s not staying anywhere I know of,” but they really weren’t that concerned.’ Six years after Charlie first went missing, you can still hear the bewilderment in her voice. It’s as if she keeps saying to herself, ‘How could this be?’

‘Everything was focused on the family home,’ she continues. ‘“Have you had an argument?” I’d tell them it was out of character and there would always be a “but”. “But are you sure that…” You get stigmatised and are forever trying to explain yourself.’

And then after two weeks, Charlie reappeared. ‘I was so relieved. He looked messy, really smelt and I just saw the fear in his face, almost like he had escaped from somewhere. He went to have a shower, and must have heard a knock at the door and thought it was the police. He put his clothes back on and ran out the door. It was horrible.’

From then on Charlie went missing more and more – days, weeks, progressing to months. ‘He’d come back for a night on the odd occasion, but more often would just freshen up and leave again.’ He never came back as a child of the house. He was gone.

Charlie is now 20 and has been arrested on numerous occasions. ‘He’s become more and more entrenched,’ Gabrielle says. ‘From what I can gather he became indebted. When he was arrested the police would have taken the money he had on him, so now he owes that.’

Charlie has also been attacked. The first time, he was stabbed in the hand. Some thought had gone into that, says Gabrielle. ‘It was a warning.’ The second attack nearly killed him.

People keep saying to Gabrielle, ‘I don’t know how you do it!’ But as she says, she can’t give up. Missing People has brought huge comfort, however. ‘I would speak to them at least twice a week in the middle of the night. I was so exhausted I’d fall asleep, but then wake up really alarmed.’

She has done more than just survive, she has become an activist, signing up to be a volunteer with Missing People and a spokesperson for the cause. ‘I never thought I would be able to stand up in front of people and communicate the fact that things need to change.’ She is also setting up her own support group. ‘Families need someone to talk to, someone who understands.’

‘What really comes through is the mothers’ love for their sons,’ says Shane Hemsley. ‘That’s what keeps them driving forward.’

Missing People and St Giles Trust, a charity that works with people involved in gangs, have recently been awarded £300,000 by the Home Office to support young victims caught up in drug running between London and Kent. Missing People is one of the three charities in this year’s Telegraph Christmas Appeal, as well as Fareshare and Canine Partners.

To make a donation to one of the three charities, please call 0151-284 1927 or see telegraph.charitiestrust.org

‘When your child goes missing it’s like your whole heart has been ripped out’