The human cost of Brits' obsession with cocaine: Roll call of young lives lost ... trends now
Middle class Brits who order cocaine to their homes using Deliveroo-style drug delivery services have the blood of young and vulnerable people killed or abused by County Lines gangs on their hands, MPs told MailOnline today.
Former home secretary Priti Patel has slammed the ‘shameless’ people buying drugs for dinner and drinks parties like a takeaway pizza, accusing them of funding the lavish lifestyles of criminals behind the ‘disgusting exploitation of children’.
Today MailOnline pictures 16 young people who have died because of the County Lines trade in recent years - almost always because of extreme violence - but the human cost of Britain’s cocaine epidemic is far higher.
Tory MP for Devizes, Danny Kruger, told MailOnline: ‘This is the price of wealthy people taking recreational drugs. Vulnerable youngsters from any family and every background are being used by evil gangs to supply cocaine to middle class homes - and too many of them end up dead'.
These 16 young and vulnerable Britons have all died in recent years due to the County Lines trade, either being murdered, killed or dying as a result of their addictions having been manipulated by them. Some were cuckooed - when dealers took over their homes to run their criminal enterprises and killed them when they were no longer useful
Middle class schoolboy Ben Nelson-Roux (pictured) was found dead at a hostel for homeless adults in April 2020 after being trapped by a County Lines gang
The recent tragic death of Ben Nelson-Roux shows that no child is safe from the clutches of criminals who exploit, wreck and take the lives of vulnerable British children.
Ben, 16, who came from an affluent middle class home in North Yorkshire, was found lifeless in a squalid homeless hostel in Harrogate, the spa town where a man approached him in a park and offered him drugs aged 12 - just a year after he left primary school.
Before he died four years later, the vulnerable teenager, who had ADHD, was groomed, brainwashed and tormented by County Lines operatives who had him selling heroin and crack in York and Sheffield as they fed his addiction to drugs.
They also extorted cash from his bereft mother and father who have said their son's death should serve as a warning to all middle-class parents who believe their children are beyond the reach of County Lines.
Mr Kruger said: 'Ben’s terrible story casts a light on the tragedy experienced by families across the UK who are torn apart by the drugs trade - most them not privileged like Ben’s. We need tougher action to crack down on county lines and also help young people with their mental health before it’s too late'.
Experts know that the pandemic has helped the County Lines model - and made it busier than ever - because more drugs are now being sold and sent directly by courier to wealthy British homes because people go out less.
Former home secretary Priti Patel told MailOnline: 'The shameless taking of so called recreational drugs is fuelling the disgusting exploitation of children and vulnerable people by criminal drug gangs.
'The laws on illegal drug use and the sanctions for law-breaking kingpins who use children to peddle this filth across our communities is clear, you will be punished and will receive the full force of the law.’
‘Drugs are a scourge on our society, fuelling violence on our streets which communities across the country are forced to endure.'There must be a relentless drive to wipe out the vile county lines gangs who are blighting our neighbourhoods, exploiting children and ruining lives.
'We put record investment and a strategy to attack supply and break the county lines model to ensure that the law-breaking kingpins have nowhere to hide and we make the streets safe for citizens and this must be accelerated to clean up our communities from this vile, abusive and dangerous crime.'
Known victims of the brutal County Lines trade include Jaden Moodie, 14, who was deliberately knocked off his moped in east London and stabbed nine times in 14 seconds before he died.
17-year-old girl scout Jodie Chesney was knifed to death in an unprovoked 'drug feud' attack in a park in Harold Hill, east London in March 2019, after being in the wrong place at the wrong time in a case that appalled Britain.
And just last year Khayri Mclean was pinned down and stabbed to death outside his school gates. A 15-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to the murder - but his 17-year-old co-accused denies the charge and is currently on trial at Leeds Crown Court.
The Times reported that Khayri’s death was one of several violent incidents in West Yorkshire involving school-age children potentially groomed for drug dealing and County Lines operations.
In some cases, dealers will take over a local property, normally belonging to a vulnerable person, and use it to operate their criminal activity from. This is known as cuckooing.
Star trumpeter William Algar, 53, who played with punk legends The Damned, was killed in his home before being chopped up by 19-year-old Emeka Dawuda-Wodu.
The court heard Mr Algar was 'cuckooed' by Dawuda-Wodu, 19, and his associates who were using his tiny flat as a base of operations for their drug dealing.
He was stabbed 20 times and chopped up in his bathtub in south-west London in December 2019.
Jodie Chesney outside Number 10 Downing Street. She was murdered in an east London park after being caught in the middle of a battle between drug rivals while in a park with her friends
Jaden Moodie, 14, was murdered in East London by Ayoub Majdouline (right), 19, who jumped out of the black Mercedes that hit the 14-year-old head on in East London. As he lay helpless on the ground, Majdouline, and at least two others stabbed him nine times in 14 seconds of horror
Afghan refugee Hazrat Wali, 18, was fatally stabbed on October 12, 2021 by a teenager armed with a 20cm Rambo knife
'Very vulnerable' William Algar, 53, who was known as Blaise and had played with punk legends The Damned, was stabbed 20 times and chopped up in his bathtub in south-west London in December 2019. His home was taken over by County Lines
The tragic death of Ben Nelson-Roux shows that no child is safe from their clutches.
Ben's parents themselves have warned that their son's case should serve as a warning to all middle-class parents who believe their children are beyond the reach of County Lines.
According to a recent government report, these predatory syndicates have ensnared tens of thousands of children, some of primary school age, and now pervade virtually every corner of Britain.
And dozens of young people have died as a result of the growing trade in drugs on the streets of Britain now being flooded by record amounts of cocaine fuelled by middle-class customers.
Cocaine is being imported into the UK at record levels by gangs using extreme violence to trap tens of thousands of children, some of primary school age, and force them to move drugs to all corners of the country.
The drugs are then delivered to homes, often under the guise of a takeaway, so middle-class Brits don't have to buy from the streets and see the consequences of their drug use.
Just last year a Deliveroo bag hiding nearly £30,000 of cocaine was found by police, in a search where they busted an Essex drug network.
In the home of Adam Stephenson cops found 685g of the class A drug in the food delivery rucksack, alongside £25,000 in his sock draw.
The 31-year-old was sentenced to a total of six years and nine months in prison, after admitting supplying, possession with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.
He was one of three men jailed after a crackdown on Class A drugs in Colchester Essex.
Powerful message: Ben’s grieving parents Barry and Kate after the inquest with a treasured photo of their beloved son
Ben cuddles his mum Kate, in the minutes after he entered the world
'County Lines' is a term used to describe gangs involved moving drugs across the UK - using dedicated mobiles phone lines that customers can text for drugs. Many who buy are middle class and wealthy.
The National Crime Agency - Britain's FBI - say these gangs will exploit children and vulnerable adults to move and store the drugs and money - and they will often use coercion, intimidation, violence and weapons to enslave them.
Britons have turned to mail order to get their cocaine with authorities recording a significant rise in seizures of the Class A drug found in the post, a report has found.
The use of parcel and courier services rose sharply during pandemic lockdowns because drug traffickers could not reply on couriers to transport drugs on planes.
Experts said Covid-19 accelerated the trend, but it had been building with evidence from Spain and Argentina suggesting a longer term decline in drug mules on flights.
The United Nations report also found that yachts and small boats are being used for importing cocaine into Britain, in addition to ferry traffic from European ports.
Global cocaine production has now hit a record high due to a surge in demand after the pandemic, with coca cultivation rose by 35 per cent between 2020 and 2021.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime study said the largest markets were in Europe and North America, followed by South and Central America and the Caribbean.
Its findings suggest that the drug markets were disrupted during the pandemic because of international travel being severely reduced.
The report said that at the retail level within Europe's domestic market, lockdown rules 'impacted the ability of dealers and consumers across drug types to connect'.
This increased the use of contactless transactions and delivery methods relying on online purchases, communication platforms and mail delivery, the study found.
It added: 'The United Kingdom, for example, recorded a significant increase in seizures of cocaine in the fast parcel and postal modes.'
The lives tragically taken by County Lines
Jaden Moodie
Jaden Moodie, 14, was knocked off his moped and stabbed to death.
Ayoub Majdouline, 19, jumped out of the black Mercedes that hit the 14-year-old head on in East London in January 2019 and, as he lay helpless on the ground, Majdouline, and at least two others stabbed him nine times in 14 seconds of horror.
He showed no remorse afterwards, strutting around with his gang and even visiting a corner shop to buy a bottle of water and crack jokes with the shopkeeper.
Majdouline was jailed for at least 21 years after the 'barbaric' gang murder.
Jaden had been dealing drugs for the Beaumont Crew - AKA Let's Get Rich - in Leytonstone and the attackers were members of the rival Somali gang known as the 'Mali Boys.'
Majdouline wore a pair of distinctive yellow rubber gloves as he murdered helpless Jaden. They were later found, along with a knife, dumped in the gutter.
Jaden was knocked off his moped (pictured) during the attack in East London in January
A pile of scorched clothing including a pair of Nike Air Max trainers found by police in a churchyard nearby linked Majdouline to the murder through a 'one in a billion' DNA match.
The killer insisted someone had stolen his clothes when he was bagging up heroin at a safe-house - and had then worn them to kill Jaden.
But an Old Bailey jury convicted him of murder and of possessing an offensive weapon by a majority of 11-to-one.
Jaden's mother Jada Bailey remembered a 'loving, caring, family-oriented' son, in a statement read to the court.
Ms Bailey said: 'Negative things [have] been said about Jaden.
'He was a loving, caring, family-oriented little boy. He was a loyal friend to me.
'He was fascinated by cars and motorbikes, it's almost been an obsession of his and he spent time taking them apart in his garden'.
Jodie Chesney
Jodie Chesney, 17, was an innocent victim who was knifed in an unprovoked 'drug feud' attack in a park in Harold Hill, east London in March 2019.
Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, 19, and a 17-year-old boy were convicted of the killing following a lengthy trial.
Police have admitted they may never know the true motive for the stabbing, but prosecutors believe Ong-a-Kwie wanted to get revenge for being knifed by a rival a few months earlier.
It is thought he may have mistakenly believed his rivals were in the park at the time and wrongly stabbed Jodie.
Jodie's father, Peter, expressed his relief at the two guilty verdicts outside court, saying: 'I'm over the moon about. We got them... Justice for Jodie. For Jodie!'
Mr Chesney, 39, clenched his fists as he spoke and tears swelled in his eyes as relatives cheered: 'Justice for Jodie'. He then hugged detectives who helped crack the case.
Girl scout Jodie Chesney, who was murdered in an east London park in March this year. Her two killers were found guilty of murder today
Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, pictured (left) in a social media photo and (right) on CCTV before the killing, is a drug dealer who is thought to have wanted to settle a score with a rival
Jodie's father, Peter, expressed his relief at the two guilty verdicts outside court, saying: 'I'm over the moon about. We got them.'
Prosecutors said it was a case of mistaken identity and Jodie was a victim of the 'casual violence' all too regularly meted out by the young thugs who populate London's drug-dealing world.
Both of those convicted had denied being involved in Jodie's death, each blaming the other for the stabbing.
Jodie's family shouted 'yes' as the first verdict was returned.
Ben Nelson-Roux
Ben Nelson-Roux was 'groomed' by County Lines gangsters to deal Class A drugs, including crack cocaine, in cities including York and Sheffield.
He was tragically found dead at a hostel for homeless adults in April 2020 after warnings from his psychologist that 'something terrible would happen to him' if he did not get proper help.
Coroner Jon Heath said it was likely Ben died from misuse of multiple drugs, but the cause could not be fully ascertained because a post-mortem was not carried out due to Covid restrictions.
He said the accommodation he had been placed in was 'unsuitable' but could not say whether this contributed to his death. The coroner promised to write to the health secretary about the lack of facilities for minors with substance issues.
Ben Nelson-Roux, with his mother, Kate, was found dead at a hostel for homeless adults in April 2020. Kate had built an annex for him to stay in at home
In a statement outside North Yorkshire Coroner's Court, Ben's mother Kate Roux said the family had been 'deprived of any answers' about the cause of his death.
Social workers who saw Ben 15 times in nine weeks before his death noted 'a homeless person's hostel was not suitable to meet Ben's needs'.
'On the day he died Ben's homeless prevention worker described his accommodation as dangerous. ''Unsuitable'' does not do it justice. 'The Council relied on charity for a place for him to sleep.'
The court heard that on April 6, 2020, Ben's parents had raised concerns about his 'deteriorating' mental health.
He had gone to hospital several times for incidents of self-harm or attempted self-harm, including falling in front of a car.
Ross Ball
Ross Ball was stabbed to death by thugs who had taken over his flat to use as a base for drug dealing.
The 42-year-old jumped out of his window in an attempt to escape but was set upon outside where he was stabbed with such force by six men that his ankle was partially severed.
The attackers were armed with a sword, machete and baseball bat and also kicked Mr Ball repeatedly in the head as he lay on the floor.
Cooper and his gang forced Ross Ball (pictured), into letting them use his flat to sell drugs
Left, Garry Cooper and right, Anthony Daw. Three members of the group were captured on CCTV meeting with Cooper (left), who was not at the scene but ordered the killing. Cooper was jailed for 29 years and Daw for 25 years
Footage shows the grinning thugs appearing to act out the savage attack, with one doing a stamping motion with his foot. Another then pretends to fall to one side with his head lolling lifelessly as they brag to each other about the murder
'Boss man' Garry Cooper and his gang had forced Mr Ball into letting them use his flat to
