@Myles O'Reilly Why didn't you say so in the first place?? . . .
. . . "Every child online could be subject to exploitation, and we're seeing more and more child being targeted through online games for, example," she added."County lines is a business. Its a very, very high-value criminal business, and so there's a huge incentive to draw children and young people into that business."
Kate Wareham, of the non-profit Catch-22, in Merseyside, told ITV News: "We recently had a referral for a child of seven years old."
Catch 22 runs a victim support project for under 25s funded by the Home Office; a rescue service helps young people found far from home, whilst specialist caseworkers support them to break the cycle of offending and escape exploitation.
At 13, Nequela Whittaker was selling drugs and carrying knives.
For years she was lost in a world of chaos and violence.
By 16, she was trafficking heroin from London to Scotland and running county drugs lines across the UK, often recruiting other girls as they were less likely to be stopped by police.
She witnessed friends being murdered, mass brawls as well as stabbings, shootings and robberies.
A new report from the Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign shows young people see drug dealing as a lucrative alternative to precarious job contracts.
It comes amid reports kids as young as 10 and 12 in Dublin's south inner city are being exploited by dealers who are getting them to sell drugs.
Trained outreach workers operating in Donore Avenue say they can intervene in young people's lives to stop them falling into this trap.
Amid reports young children are being targeted to sell drugs, a south inner city youth programme which intervenes in their lives is in danger of folding.
www.newstalk.com