Children in care fall into drug dealing

The link between a childhood spent in care and future offending is highlighted in a new report on drug dealing.

More than half of the dealers interviewed had lived in local authority care or secure accommodation.

Most dealers had no educational qualifications and two-thirds had served a prison sentence, the report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds. And teenagers as young as 14 are increasingly used as “runners” for drug dealers.

Report co-author Tiggey May said: “Preventing young people entering the drug market needs to be tackled at a local level. Youth workers can do highly effective work because young people trust them and can communicate with them.”

Researchers from King’s College London interviewed 68 dealers and 800 residents in four neighbourhoods in England and more than 120 professionals.