Children as young as 13 are leading violent county lines drug gangs across Britain

Children as young as 13 are running violent county lines drug gangs across Britain as school exclusions and vanishing "ghost pupils" fuel an explosion in exploitation, an expert has warned. Former children's commissioner for England Anne Longfield said youngsters barely into their teens were heading drug networks, controlling supply lines of up to 80 miles, ordering retribution acts and brandishing machetes.

Baroness Longfield said: "We are now seeing 13 or 14-year-olds at the top of these operations. They're running drug lines across counties, handing out punishments, using threats, and operating like a business - a very ruthless one." The peer warned the scale of the crisis is now so severe "there isn't a town or city in England untouched by this".

In some areas, police and social workers say the criminal model has flipped, with children becoming the kingpins while older gang leaders operate behind the scenes. The number of children referred for criminal exploitation has soared by 50% in just two years, rising from 10,140 to 15,700.

But Baroness Longfield said: "These figures are the tip of the iceberg." Many children caught in county lines are never officially flagged. Some are frightened into silence and others have slipped through the cracks of a school system in crisis...including tens of thousands of "ghost children" who stopped attending school during Covid and never returned.

Recent figures show school exclusions have rocketed, leaving thousands of vulnerable kids exposed to grooming and gang recruitment. There were 10,900 permanent exclusions in 2022/23 - up 16% from the previous year, according to Government data, and 955,000 suspensions (temporary exclusions) - a 21% rise on 2021/22.

Last year, 471 children aged six or younger were among those excluded permanently. Speaking to the Family Talk podcast run by children's care provider Care Visions, Baroness Longfield said: "When a child is removed from school, they lose protection. They're no longer seen. That's when the gangs move in."

She warned that school exclusion is now one of the biggest predictors of gang exploitation, describing it as a "direct pipeline" to crime. "If you're not in school - no teachers watching, no structure, no support - you are exposed." Since the Covid lockdowns, there has also been an estimated threefold increase in the number of children regularly absent from school.

Today, one pupil in five is now persistently absent and missing 10% or more of school. Around 170,000 children in England are classed as severely absent, missing most of their education entirely. But a recent Education Policy Institute report found the number even higher, with an estimated 300,000 children aged 5-15 missing from education in 2023 and up to 400,000 children "not in school" altogether.

Pupil referral units - often the only option for excluded children - offer just a few hours of education a week, leaving children vulnerable, isolated and easy targets for the drug gangs, Baroness Longfield said. She added that police or social services were often not set up to give proper help.

Baroness Longfield told the podcast one desperate mother paid off a £300 drug debt to rescue her 15-year-old son from a gang. She said: "She went to the group, met the older boys, handed over the money, and said, 'Leave him alone'. And they did. But she had to do it herself...there was no help."

The family later set up a support group for other parents. Baroness Longfield said with youth services decimated and social care stretched to breaking point, some families were "funding their own interventions", paying for youth workers, mentoring and even security, because councils no longer provided it.

Since 2010, more than 1,200 youth centres have shut down in England - a cut of nearly 75% in some areas. Baroness Longfield said: "We're leaving kids to fend for themselves. And they're being picked up by people who will ruin their lives." The Commission on Young Lives charity, chaired by the peer, is now calling for the Government to act urgently.

It calls for a national "Sure Start Plus" programme for teenagers, new laws to punish those who exploit children, and an end to the "culture of exclusion" in schools, especially for primary-age children. The Government has so far pledged to set up 50 support hubs, but Baroness Longfield warned help was not coming fast enough, saying: "We need urgent action." The peer insists prevention is vital and has also demanded co-ordinated national leadership across health, police, schools and social care to prevent exploitation.