"I remember one day, particularly, and I'll never ever forget it. They said to me, You smoke all our weed, you drink our alcohol on the weekends, we let you hang around with us, but you've never, ever paid for any of this stuff before."
"On a weekly basis, I feared for my safety You start picturing things in your head that you're about to die, or someone might run along and shoot you, or you're about to get kidnapped, or the police come along again, he said, adding he received no support despite repeatedly asking for help."
"When I made that disclosure after being arrested I was called a liar. I believed that I was now in this situation and no one was going to help me get out of it."
"They just made me feel like a human. They exposed me to normal situations and helped me to understand that there are opportunities out there to be successful without going down certain paths."
Thousands of teenagers across England and Wales are being targeted and lured into criminal activities such as selling drugs. A survey of nearly 11,000 children aged 13 to 17 found over one in nine had been approached in the last 12 months to sell or transport drugs or to store weapons, drugs or money. Some children begin using substances such as cannabis and MDMA to cope with family illness, dyslexia and ADHD and become vulnerable to exploitation by older peers. Young people report regular missing episodes, pervasive fear for their safety, engagement in dealing, and encounters with the police, often without effective support. Targeted support from third-sector organisations and legal advice can restore dignity and create opportunities to leave criminal pathways.
Read at www.independent.co.uk
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