Boy of 14 gunned down in playground had told social workers: I fear for my life
A BOY of 14 forced to sell drugs by a gang warned social workers that he feared for his life, but nothing was done and he was shot dead in a playground, a report has revealed. Corey Junior Davis was groomed by a drug gang from the age of 13 and told social workers that he was not safe, but he ‘wasn’t seen through the lens of exploitation but as an offender’, a serious case review found.
The schoolboy, known as C J, was blasted with a shotgun at close range in broad daylight in Forest Gate, east London, in September last year. His killers escaped in a stolen Range Rover and are still at large.
A report into the case found that police had identified him as being ‘ highly vulnerable’ to drug gang exploitation six months before his death. Concerns were also raised by his mother, Keisha McLeod, who feared he was being groomed by gang members and had been worried about his safety. Yesterday the serious case review by Newham Local Safeguarding Children Board concluded there was ‘little evidence that agencies effectively responded to his experiences as a victim’.
The disturbing report comes after a Home Office-funded study by charity St Giles Trust highlighted the woeful lack of support for chilcoerced dren caught up in the web of county lines drug gangs – so called after the phone numbers used to sell and distribute drugs. Last month, a Daily Mail investigation revealed the scale of the county lines crisis, with the Children’s Commissioner estimating that up to 50,000 children could be involved in drug gangs. Concerns were first raised about Corey’s behaviour and safety in April 2016, when a police report stated he was ‘associating with troublemakers’ and an officer said he may be a target for gangs.
Later that year, Corey revealed to his mother and a social worker that he had been
‘Everybody failed him’
into selling drugs on behalf of ‘elders’. Miss McLeod disposed of a bundle of crack cocaine and heroin with a street value of about £ 600 and told officers she would not disclose information until plans were put in place to safeguard her son.
She was reassured that information would be handled sensitively but no action appears to have been taken. At one point, Corey went missing for a week and returned with new clothes and expensive trainers. He was also caught carrying a knife, which he claimed was for protection, and had also ordered a bulletproof vest online.
Corey, who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was excluded from school and moved to a pupil referral unit (PRU), which his family felt was a ‘negative and unhelpful decision’ as it exposed him to young people with ‘involvement in violent and drug-related offending at a time when he was highly susceptible to peer pressure’.
The case review found that the unit lacked the resources to deal with the ‘gang-related risk’ and his mother described the PRU as a ‘breeding ground’ for the gangs.
Corey’s voice was ‘rarely truly heard and even more rarely adequately responded to’, the review found, adding that he was not ‘seen through the lens of exploitation, but as an offender’.
Fourteen recommendations were made in the report, including reviewing processes for relocating families out of the borough and to ensure there are appropriate procedures in place for young people at risk of gang affiliation and exploitation.
His mother told ITV News: ‘Instead of this child being seen for his vulnerabilities and the fact that he’s been exploited and is a victim, he’s been criminalised. A child. Everybody failed him. He’s not here. Everybody failed him. I even feel like I failed him and that’s not a good thing for a mother to say.’ Newham mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said: ‘ The serious case review highlights critical risks facing Corey that weren’t sufficiently understood. We are now tackling these.’