Cambridge county lines: ‘I’m scared of my own son – he’s gone from an angel to a monster...’
Vulnerable children are in danger of being groomed by criminal gangs to sell drugs, police have said. One mother explains how her son turned from “an angel into a monster” and is warning others to be aware of the signs.
“I’m scared of him,” the mother – who we have agreed not to identify – tells the Cambridge Independent. “I shouldn’t be scared of my own son.”
The Cambridge mum-of-two fears her 15-year-old son is being exploited by a criminal gang to sell drugs to fund his own habit after she found worrying messages on his phone.
“Recently his behaviour, his personality, have started to change. I first put it down to just hormones but soon realised it was something more sinister as if he is possessed by someone else,” she explains, adding: “He’s argumentative, aggressive, pushing me around if he can’t get his way – and lying. I went into his room and it smelt like weed, I’m very naive to this type of thing, as I had never come across drugs, until now.
“I found weed grinders and lighters in his room and when I questioned my son, he denied they were his and that they belonged to a friend. He started getting loads of text messages and hiding in his room or going out.”
The mum says her son was a good student at school, who “never had any problems with his behaviour”.
But after suffering two bereavements and parent separation, the teenager started smoking cannabis regularly and admits to using the Class B drug at least twice a week.
When his phone was confiscated at school and messages related to drug dealing were found, everything changed.
“I took his phone away, but he became violent because he desperately wanted his phone back. At one point he wouldn’t let me out of the house and I feared for my own safety,” she said. “The only way for me to get out of the house was to dial 999, then I had to lock myself in my car for an hour and a half waiting for the police to arrive.
“In the end, I was advised by the police who came round that it was best for me to give him back his phone for my safety, and his.”
Police have spoken to the teenager but he refused to ‘snitch’ and would ‘rather be arrested’ than tell them who was supplying him drugs.
The mother added: “He hardly speaks to us. He goes out and comes back in the early hours of the morning most nights, even on school nights when I tell him to be home
by 10.
“He eats when he wants by making himself something, normally when he gets in.”
The boy, who is also known to be associating himself with older teenagers, has also been stealing from his family.
“We have all had to buy combination safes and we even have a combination lock on our bedroom door.”
The mother is working with the police, school and other agencies to help her son before the problems get any worse.
Warning other parents, she said: “If you suspect anything at all, that your son or daughter might be involved with drugs, then speak to the school in the first instance who should put you in contact with the relevant people and organisations who might be able
to help. Know that you’re not alone.
“Ask Frank and other websites which offer help for young people need young people’s authority, and like my son they might not think they are doing anything wrong so without a consent form from the child, they cannot do anything.”
How do you know if county lines drug dealing is happening in your area?
Some signs to look out for include:
- An increase in visitors and cars to a house or flat
- New faces appearing at the house or flat
- New and regularly changing residents (eg different accents compared to local accents)
- Change in resident’s mood and/or demeanour (eg secretive/ withdrawn/ aggressive/ emotional)
- Substance misuse and/or drug paraphernalia
- Changes in the way young people you might know dress
- Unexplained, sometimes unaffordable new things (eg clothes, jewellery, cars etc)
- Residents or young people you know going missing, maybe for long periods of time
- Young people seen in different cars/taxis driven by unknown adults
- Young people seeming unfamiliar with your community or where they are
- Truancy, exclusion, disengagement from school
- An increase in anti-social behaviour in the community
- Unexplained injuries
Source: National Crime Agency
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