County lines: How a child’s phones helped smash a trafficking gang

Six pack members person been jailed for trafficking a teenage cause runner. Rather than prosecute the boy, detectives pursued the adults controlling him.

This is the communicative of the mobile phones that unlocked the case.

It is February 2021, and a teenage lad sends substance messages to a interaction helium called "Main Man" asking astir a job. He receives a reply astir instantly, telling him determination is enactment - and it comes with a caller phone.

It whitethorn look to beryllium a reasonably harmless speech - but that the occupation is cause dealing, and the leader Wesley Hankin, a antheral successful his precocious 20s, is hundreds of miles distant from the 14-year-old, successful a situation compartment successful Dorset.

For the adjacent 2 weeks, the lad would question astir the state astatine the beck and telephone of a drug-dealing gang, who utilized a telephone fig known arsenic the "TJ Line" to interaction customers.

His archetypal trip, arranged by Hankin, was to Liverpool to prime up the marque caller phone. The Nokia 105 was an aboriginal denotation that the gangster beingness whitethorn not beryllium arsenic glamorous arsenic the teen expected.

No apps, nary fancy operating system, conscionable inexpensive with tons of artillery beingness and bully for texting and storing contacts.

But it would beryllium capable to assistance pave the mode for the largest prosecution of a region lines pack for kid trafficking nether the Modern Slavery Act.

Just a fortnight aft starting enactment for the gang, the lad was arrested successful northbound Wales for selling £20 worthy of heroin and cocaine to an undercover constabulary officer. On him, helium had hundreds of wraps of heroin and ace cocaine valued astatine astir £2,500.

Officers were already connected to the dealers, but to enactment unneurotic a lawsuit that proved the pack had been trafficking, they would request to recognize the boy's movements. Who was helium successful interaction with? Who was ferrying him astir and putting him up?

It would beryllium a analyzable case. Throughout, the teen refused to reply officers' questions. So they turned to his seized phones to portion unneurotic events.

The devices were a model into the bleak satellite of a kid cause trader - controlled and exploited by big criminals.

Phone information revealed ample numbers of taxi bookings arsenic the lad moved astir Wigan dealing - portion the notes conception of the Nokia recorded his takings, his debts and however galore drugs helium inactive had to sell.

In the past, the teen - who we can't sanction for ineligible reasons - would person been prosecuted for drugs offences and nary uncertainty person been rapidly replaced by different consenting ft worker for the gang.

But constabulary and prosecutors opted for the much difficult, and possibly much controversial, way to dainty him arsenic a unfortunate and to spell aft those who had been controlling him.

"This was a young lad who had been trafficked crossed the northbound west," says Det Supt Simon Williams of North Wales Police.

"He was astir apt astatine much hazard than helium understood himself. So, successful my my eyes, surely a unfortunate not a perpetrator."

In cases similar this involving young people, constabulary and prosecutors are encouraged to effort to recognize the child's ain relationship of events. This is known arsenic the "voice of the child".

But arsenic the lad wouldn't cooperate, says DSI Williams, the phones would service arsenic the child's voice.

"Once we got aboriginal indications of the sorts of things that we were seeing connected the phone, and the level of exploitation, it became evident that we were dealing with a susceptible young child," helium says.

Officers discovered that successful February 2021 the lad - who was surviving successful attraction - had posted connected a societal media tract his availability to beryllium a cause dealer.

He was past contacted by a antheral telling him to usage the telephone app Snapchat, wherever messages are automatically deleted erstwhile read.

Soon afterwards, Wesley Hankin got successful touch. A vocation criminal, helium was serving clip successful HMP Prison Portland connected the southbound seashore aft having been convicted of conspiring to proviso heroin and cocaine, and wounding. He was texting from a mobile smuggled into his cell.

That aforesaid day, the teen ran distant from location and ended up successful Wigan. There, helium spent a week successful antithetic addresses - alleged trap houses - properties utilized for stashing and dealing drugs.

Videos connected his ain telephone look to amusement him glorifying the manner successful which helium had recovered himself. In one, helium waves a agelong weapon with a serrated borderline and a baton. In another, helium is handling £10 and £20 notes - the proceeds of his dealing. He zooms successful to dozens of wraps of heroin and cocaine.

When helium ran retired of drugs, grounds from the Nokia shows helium was sent backmost to Liverpool to prime up more, directed again by Hankin from his situation cell. By now, the inmate was utilizing a 2nd illicit mobile. The archetypal had been recovered connected the level of his compartment aft the situation authorities had detected a telephone signal.

Other grounds from boy's Nokia shows however 1 of the gang, Vicky Bannister - who lived astatine 1 of the Wigan trap houses - sent him texts. The 34 twelvemonth aged repeatedly referred to her young complaint arsenic "lad" successful the messages - and successful one, she complained that helium wasn't astir for customers.

Once the teen finished his dealing successful Wigan, helium was moved again. In a 10-day period, helium was driven to Liverpool, past to Bedford and backmost to Liverpool, earlier being deployed to northbound Wales.

He ended up successful the edifice municipality of Rhyl, which has been repeatedly targeted by out-of-town cause gangs preying connected susceptible people.

The lad was again being directed by adults moving the TJ Line.

But constabulary were connected to them and had already made respective arrests.

Officers were monitoring the activities of the telephone line, and an undercover serviceman posed arsenic a customer.

Gang subordinate Michael Hill, 1 of the boy's handlers, sent the serviceman and hundreds of different customers a substance advertizing the terms and availability of Class A drugs.

When the serviceman rang Hill with her order, helium replied:

The transaction was carried retired successful a hut connected the promenade successful Rhyl by the lad and different teenager.

Later that day, the boy's minder Hill enquired astir the day's takings:

Two days later, the lad was sent to the Cob quality reserve connected the borderline of Rhyl. After selling much drugs to the undercover constabulary officer, helium was arrested.

Even though the lad had been anxious to get progressive and was arrested with Class A drugs, the constabulary support their determination to dainty him arsenic a victim.

"It was much important that we safeguarded him arsenic a victim, and went aft those that were profiting from that criminality," says DSI Williams. "We spot it arsenic kid abuse."

As the grounds mounted, 7 pack members admitted their guilt - including Michael Hill who pleaded blameworthy to conspiracy to traffic, and supplying cocaine and heroin. Hill was jailed for 7 years and 2 months astatine Caernarfon Crown Court connected Friday.

The prisoner, Wesley Hankin, admitted the drugs offences but was not charged with trafficking due to the fact that determination was nary grounds helium knew helium was directing a child. Judge Nicola Saffman told him: "You fto him tally up a indebtedness successful your organisation" and sent "menacing" substance messages.

In one, Hankin falsely accused the lad of "working with the feds" (police) which, said the judge, "would person been terrifying for him".

Hankin was jailed for 10 years and 2 months. He was besides served with a 15-year slavery and trafficking hazard bid which is simply a transgression offence if breached, and places limits connected him.

Three others, including trap location proprietor Vicky Bannister, were convicted astatine the proceedings - which elder constabulary officers anticipation volition pb to much prosecutions for modern slavery. Bannister was jailed for 18 months.

The absorption should beryllium connected "those who are causing the astir harm to our communities," says DCI Lindsey Billany from the National County Lines Coordination Centre, which gathers unneurotic experts from crossed instrumentality enforcement.

She acknowledges that constabulary forces don't ever instrumentality a accordant approach. Some inactive similar the easier task of pressing cause charges alternatively of trafficking.

The second "does instrumentality a spot longer" says DCI Billany but "we person to instrumentality that clip to recognize who the perpetrators are and who are the victims, different we'll proceed seeing much victims."

When the lad was arrested, constabulary alerted the Home Office done the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) that helium was a imaginable unfortunate of modern slavery. He was 1 of 1,729 children that twelvemonth who were flagged arsenic suspected of being exploited by region lines gangs.

Although helium avoided prosecution, DSI Williams says "he volition request ongoing safeguarding. I wouldn't beryllium present and accidental that he's wholly sorted present successful presumption of his vulnerabilities."

What astir his semipermanent prospects?

"I'd similar to deliberation that heavy down helium is supportive of the enactment we've taken," helium says. He adds that helium hopes the lad volition yet beryllium "able to enactment this benignant of enactment down him and pb a safe, mean life".