Keeping you updated - Crewe Police - Local story about county lines and anti-social behaviour

A couple of young people were involved in that many incident’s that we created what we call a SARA (problem solving document) to look into what was going on behind the scenes with their behaviour. 

The incidents mainly consisted of anti-social behaviour, including prank calls, knock and run’s and doing “wheelies” in front of traffic. At first there nothing too concerning on the surface, but the more we got to know the young people involved, the home concerns, school concerns and links with other friendship/ connections,  started alarm bells off for us.   

We work closely Cheshire East Anti-Social Behaviour Team to offer ABD (anti-social behaviour discussion) meetings. This is a chance for us to understand the ‘why’ behind the incidents, and to educate young people about the consequences of their actions. 

The meetings are usually the last that we hear of most local young people, that’s if they even get to point of the anti-social behaviour pathway (which consists of two letters home, a third in inviting them in for a discussion (ABD) and then in some cases an ABC (an anti-social behaviour contract – this is where conditions about their behaviour are agreed and they sign to accept.) However, in this case, we saw these young people for many months to come, and had to reassess what we could do with their level of behaviour based on their age. 

The school that they attended was equally as confused for the sudden spike in poor behaviour choices, their families also didn’t understand why their behaviour had suddenly become an issue. Every partner involved grew increasingly concerned. 

When on a foot patrol in town, we noticed one of them on a new bike and with new trainers on, we knew that money was a struggle at home and this bike wasn’t cheap, so we asked how they had come about getting these new items. They told us that a mate had brought them for them. We informed their parents, who thought that it was odd, but a couple of weeks went by and there were no further issues from these young people.

We then got contacted by another local family to say that one of the young people involved had sent a ‘snap’ picture of themselves holding a large “wod of cash”. They emailed the photo over to us. 

We visited the home address of the young person involved, and sat down with the family. We were honest and showed them the photo and explained why we were there. The Mum and Dad asked where they were storing this cash. At first they tried to deny it, even though we had the photo. Eventually, they showed us, it was up in the attic above their room. The next question that we had though was “where is that amount of cash from?” 

They refused to tell us, however a week or so later when on patrol in Crewe, they come up and told us that they were “holding it for someone”. They had been told that if they didn’t hold the cash then they would beat up when they didn’t expect it. So they felt too scared not to. 

Unfortunately the young people involved never told us who it was being held for, however they did both work with us to get their behaviour on track. They both had no attendance at school, one of them is now back in education full-time and is thriving. The other is in part time employment. 

We wish that we could know every detail of this situation, however sometimes situations like are linked to OCG’s (Organised Crime Gangs) where they exploit, manipulate and coerce children to move, deal drugs and hold cash for them. This is known as ‘County Line’s, and it could be happening in your community. The case got passed on to our specialist team, and things made a full improvement for one of them. The other is still being offered support.

It’s not always easy to spot the signs of child criminal exploitation, but here’s some to look out for – 

You can report anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111. 

We’re proud that the young people worked with us to correct their poor behaviour. We’re also really thankful that the victims of their ant-social behaviour were so forgiving, understanding and willing to accept the apologies of these young people involved. 

More information, support and useful links around County Lines can be found below – 

Stay safe, 

PCSO Lizzie Jolley 22582 

Crewe Police 

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