A heartbroken mum from has revealed exclusively to The Northern Echo how her three children were groomed and lured into a world of crime by organised gangs.

At the height of their involvement with criminals they were involved in burglaries, violence, theft and even firearms offences.

The situation escalated until the mum's house was targeted by rival gangs and a Jeep was rammed through the front of her home.

The oldest of her three children involved (12, 14 and 16) is now in secure accommodation and the other two have been saved through a unique programme run at Cleveland custody suite to help steer them away from a life of crime.

Sat in the police station the mum described how in the beginning her oldest would leave home and not come back for days on end, talking about their older friends in their late teens and early 20s.

She added: "He wasn't coming home for days and things like that. I was calling the police to report him as missing.

"He was coming in with clothes and things and I didn't know where he would get the money for things like that.

"He would just say a friend had passed it to him. I used to think why would an 18 or 20-year-old want to be spending time with a kid?

"Really, they were obviously exploiting him."

She described how he was “going nuts”. He used to tell his mum that his new friends “were class” and ignore all her warnings to stay away from them.

She said: “I couldn’t pull him away from them. He was driving from the age of 12. Then he was caught in a car at the age of 13.

“It got to the point that he was committing all sorts of offences.”

After the oldest of the three got involved with the gangs it was easier for the organised criminal groups to target her other children.

Once they have accepted gifts from organised groups they soon believe that they were “protected” by being part of the gang.

Her youngest, at just 12 years old, was found with a group of older kids "with weapons".

She explained how he was being used to carry them for the older kids in the gangs.

"It's not normal out there now for kids. They're involved in guns, knives, and drugs.

"It's scary how organised it is, they get the kids when they are young and then they just think it is normal," she added.

But things sadly began to escalate  - with the mum recalling: "It got really, really bad really quickly."

“Everything was happening all at once and it all came crashing down,” she added.

(Image: Northern Echo)

Voice thick with emotion, she explained how scary life became when rival gangs attacked her boys, driving a Jeep into their front room and on another occasion smashing into her son when he was riding a motorbike.

The mum, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I was close by at the time.

"My son was on a motorbike and he was rammed into on purpose at 80 miles per hour and he was put in hospital.

"The bike was absolutely mangled.

"I didn't know it was my son. I went out to see what was going on and someone was shouting at me to tell me to go back in.

"Everyone was screaming at me and pushing me back."

The situation kept getting worse and then someone drove a Jeep through the front of her house.

The mother said: "It was a rival group. I was in bed at around 11.45pm, my son was on the sofa downstairs.

"He said someone was braying the door. 

"Then he ran upstairs saying someone had come through the fence and hit the wall of the house.

"If it had gone further it might have killed him."

Between the three sons they have committed a catalogue of offences since being lured into this murky world. These include:

  • wounding with intent
  • firearms
  • driving offences (cars and bikes)
  • burglary
  • theft
  • assault
  • criminal damage.

The family were moved out of their home by social services and they had to live in hotels for periods of time.

The mum recalled how awful she felt asking for her 16-year-old to be moved out of the family home to protect her and the younger children.

Her 16-year-old is now in secure accommodation and she worries about him coming home.

The desperate mum looked to Cleveland Police and the unique Custody Navigator Programme. The scheme, run by the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV) through the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, is an interventions scheme which tackles youth offenders to pull them from the lure of criminal gangs.

Her youngest is now avoiding all involvement with gangs after the successful intervention of the programme operating in Cleveland.

But the mum also issued a warning to other families after recognising similar things happening to other friends with young children in the area.

She said: "I'm in a better place now.. But when I'm talking to my friends who have kids I realise they are going through things I went through.

 

(Image: Northern Echo)

Will Swinburne, who has been a custody navigator for the last year, described how hard it is for parents in Middlesbrough to protect their children.

He said: "People think "Oh, blame the parents".

"They say that the parents are this and that but they're not.

"We have yet to come across a parent that doesn't want to help. 

"We're up against it from the start against these organised criminal groups.

"The stories we hear every day would amaze you but it is just normal now.

"It shouldn't be, but it is.”

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The mum’s final bit of advice for any families in the region going through a similar situation was that help is always available.

She said: "I would say to get help. Get in touch with different services. 

"Someone will be able to help."