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Rape and ripping out fingernails: the extraordinary violence used by county lines gangs to exploit children

Hospital staff confronted with shocking injuries inflicted by the drug gangs on young people

By Charles Hymas,
HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR
17 June 2021 • 5:00am
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/17/rape-ripping-fingernails-extraordinary-violence-used-county/

County lines gangs are using increasing levels of violence to exploit boys and girls, including removing their fingernails, frontline medical staff report.

Hospital staff have told researchers that they were now treating victims of county lines violence who had suffered multiple injuries, where before they may only have been admitted with one or two.

These included fingernails being pulled out, hair being ripped off their heads and multiple stab wounds, according to the report by Nottingham University’s Rights Lab based on interviews with frontline workers.

“Whereas before Covid-19 you may have seen one or two injuries on a young person, now they will be repeatedly stabbed. So we're talking five, six times is kind of an average amount of stab wounds,” said one youth worker based in hospital accident and emergency departments.

There was also evidence of gangs using sexual violence to exert control. Youth workers described the use of “gift girls” where victims are sexually exploited and passed around the wider gang network as a reward.

Another hospital youth worker reported a rise in the number of young men aged 21 or under attending A&E who had been raped by members of county lines gangs.

The researchers said the increasing violence was linked to a rise in the number of young people linked to the gangs who were self-harming or had attempted suicide.

One frontline worker told the researchers of one youth heavily involved in county lines who was in hospital for trying to drink a litre of bleach after he refused to join the other members in a gang rape.

“When he refused to get involved they beat him up and now they were after him because he wouldn't get involved in that gang rape,” said the worker.

Young women were particularly vulnerable to online grooming, where they were coerced into taking and sharing explicit images of themselves.

The researchers said it was unclear whether this was linked to sexual or criminal exploitation, but they attributed rising cases of self-harm in young women to the phenomenon.

FAQ | County lines
The term is increasingly in the spotlight, here is what you need to know about it:

What is meant by county lines?
Drug-dealing operations in major cities seek new markets outside their urban hubs for their drugs, primarily crack cocaine and heroin.

They expand their networks into smaller towns, which requires a supply of new recruits to transport the drugs. These are often controlled via a branded mobile phone line.

Who falls victim to these operations?
Children and vulnerable adults are manipulated and coerced into ferrying and stashing the haul.

They can be homeless, missing people, addicts, living in care, trapped in poverty, or suffering from mental illness or learning difficulties.

Even the elderly and the physically infirm have been targeted and officers have observed a gang member attending drug rehabs to seek out potential runners.

How do dealers target the exploited?
Initially they can be lured in with money, gifts and the prospect of status. But this may quickly turn to the use of violence, sexual and physical.

How prevalent are county lines?
National Crime Agency research shows police have knowledge of at least 720 county lines in England and Wales, but it is feared the true number is far higher.

Some 65 per cent of forces reported county lines being linked to child exploitation, while 74 per cent noted vulnerable people being targeted.

How many people have been prosecuted in relation to this?
In October 2018, a drug-dealer was jailed for trafficking children – including a 14-year-old girl – to use in a heroin and crack-selling ring.

Zakaria Mohammed, a 21-year-old resident of Birmingham, is believed to be the first dealer to be convicted for breaching the Modern Slavery Act by trafficking juveniles.

How many children are at risk?
Children without criminal records – known in the trade as “clean skins” – are preferred because they are less likely to be known to detectives.

Charity The Children’s Society says 4,000 teenagers in London alone are exploited through county lines.

The Children’s Commissioner estimates at least 46,000 children in England are caught up in gangs.

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One youth worker said “pop-up brothels” were being operated by the gangs, a trend that they had not seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. The victims, he said, were usually young British girls.

Dr Ben Brewster, Nottingham University Research Fellow said the findings were “extremely concerning.”

“Taken together with the fact that professionals’ ability to identify signs of exploitation and safeguard vulnerable young people are being hindered by Covid-19 restrictions, it is a very alarming picture,” he said.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/17/rape-ripping-fingernails-extraordinary-violence-used-county/