Ex-drug dealer backs plans to spot modern slavery victims

Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell has launched fresh plans to tackle modern slavery in the county lines drug trade

A man who was groomed by a county lines drugs gang at the age of 13 said being classed as a modern slavery victim saved him from a life in jail.

The ex-drug dealer from Merseyside was recruited after being expelled from school and travelled around the UK to peddle drugs.

He was arrested aged 18 but he was termed as a victim of modern slavery.

Now 21, he is backing new plans by Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to tackle the issue.

The former dealer told BBC North West Tonight that he began to see "lads" selling drugs who were "doing better than our mums and dads and they were 10 or 15 years younger".

"So it was easy to look up to and sort of idolise them in a way, and you get this false sense of reality of what's right and what's wrong," he added.

The father-of-two said he travelled across the UK "to more places selling drugs than I have been on holiday".

He was arrested when he was 18 for drugs offences but being classed as a slavery victim changed his life.

"I wouldn't have my daughter, I wouldn't have my little boy," he said.

"I would probably get out of prison and still be selling drugs because it's that revolving door isn't it?"

PCC Emily Spurrell's plans involve trying to spot potential victims.

She said: "Modern slavery devastates lives and communities.

"People can be victims in very different ways."

The Home Office has said 16,938 potential modern slavery victims were referred to it last year - a 33% increase on the previous year.

Anti-Slavery International has estimated that there are 130,000 victims in the UK.

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