Boy, 16, involved with county lines drug gang in Hampshire placed in council care by judge

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy who has been arrested in Hampshire will be placed in council care at the order of a High Court judge – with social workers saying the offender has lost three of his friends to gang-related violence.
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The judge – who considered the case in a private hearing in the High Court - was told how the boy was arrested in Hampshire, Somerset, and Kent, and he is believed to be involved in county lines drug distribution.

The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, will be placed in care after his mother told a court hearing she could no longer control her son and keep him safe.

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A High Court judge ruled that the boy, 16, must be kept in council care. Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA WireA High Court judge ruled that the boy, 16, must be kept in council care. Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
A High Court judge ruled that the boy, 16, must be kept in council care. Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
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Council social services workers agreed that the boy, who has been living with his mother in London, is beyond parental control, and asked the judge to rule that he could lawfully be deprived of his liberty.

Deputy High Court judge Darren Howe ruled that the teenager can be placed in a specialist unit and locked in or restrained if necessary.

Judge Howe said: ‘In all the circumstances, I am satisfied that the care plan proposed by the local authority is both necessary and proportionate as, in my judgment and for the reasons I have given, no other arrangement is likely to be successful in protecting (him) from the harm to which he has been exposing himself or from the exploitation he has suffered.’

The judge approved a council care plan which means that the boy must be supervised and not allowed out of the unit alone.

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Staff can also search him, remove belongings, restrict his use of phones, the internet and social media, and restrain or lock him in if necessary.

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