Drug gangs recruiting 6-year-olds

CHILDREN as young as six are being used by “county lines” drug gangs, a senior police office has warned.

Victims are taken from their own areas to other towns and coastal resorts to commit crime away from home to help avoid detection.

Detective Chief Inspector Wendy Tinkler of Cleveland Police told councillors that a current investigation involved a six-year-old child.

Youngsters were often bribed with money and gifts or threatened with violence to work for the criminals, she told a Safer Stockton Partnership meeting.

She added: “Why are these organised crime groups targeting young children? The unfortunate thing is it is so easy to find the next child.

“More often than not, because of their ages, there is no criminal investigation or progression to court and the perpetrator moves on to the next child.

“The shameful fact is they are a commodity and disposable, that’s in harsh terms.

“They don’t think about the person, they think about the profit.”

DCI Tinkler said children needed to learn they were being exploited.

No further details of the “ongoing” case were revealed, but it is understood the child is no longer at risk.