This week we saw moving scenes across Teesside as hundreds took to the streets to pay their final respects at the funerals of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough.
Their deaths have understandably left people angry and led to calls for crackdowns on the youth crime and antisocial behaviour that is all too common in their communities.
But how do you recognise which of those causing the trouble may actually be in trouble themselves? For this week’s edition I spoke to a national charity about its efforts to address rising rates of child criminal exploitation in Teesside.
Before you read on, it’s important to say that police have not released any information at this stage to suggest that child criminal exploitation played a part in the events that led to the fatal A66 crash.
Following the tragic events of recent weeks, Teesside has become linked with crime and disorder to those outside, as videos of torched cars and balaclava-clad men riding electric bikes spread like wildfire across social media. But for those who live on the estates that have suddenly become fodder for tabloid journalists, this is nothing that far out of the ordinary.
One charity which has had boots on the ground across Teesside this summer, says it’s time to look closer at what’s really behind the youth crime and antisocial behaviour that has long blighted these communities.
“What might present as antisocial behaviour might actually be hiding a vulnerable child who’s been exploited,” Lindsay Dalton, CEO of the Ivison Trust, told The Teesside Lead.
“People don’t necessarily have the understanding to know that’s what it is.”
The charity, which supports parents and carers whose children have been sexually or criminally exploited across the north of England, was commissioned by Cleveland Police to run a pilot programme designed to help members of the public recognise exploitation.
Speaking with parents, community members, safeguarding professionals, schools and statutory partners, it found ‘consistent concern’ about the impact on vulnerable young people across Teesside.
An FOI response shows the force recorded 72 children aged 17 and under flagged as victims of child criminal exploitation in 2023, rising to 111 in 2024, including some as young as 12.
However, a “distrust” of police and “fear of retaliation” can prevent people from sharing information with professionals.
Community Guardians across Hartlepool and Teesside are trained in how to identify the signs of exploitation and given a safe, anonymous route to come forward with intelligence through an independent agency, rather than directly to the police.
Community Guardians can’t be named or identified for obvious reasons, but one participant told the charity that the training had helped them look at their environment “through a very different lens”.
“For me, the project has reinforced how important it is that we do not simply see behaviours at face value,” they commented.
“But instead understand the wider context and the possibility that some of the most vulnerable people in our communities may need support, safeguarding and compassion rather than judgement.”
“Hidden in plain sight”
Home Office estimates show that approximately 15,500 children were identified as at risk or involved in child criminal exploitation in the year 2025, but this is likely to be significantly underreported, according to the charity.
Until the introduction of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, there was no standalone criminal offence of child criminal exploitation. This left “significant gaps” in the ability of professionals to identify and respond consistently to children being exploited by criminal networks, Dalton explains.
A further complexity is that many children don’t recognise themselves as victims due to the grooming, manipulation and coercion that takes place, and may appear to be making voluntary choices, making early identification and intervention difficult.
“We know that children are being coerced and manipulated into organised crime at a prolific rate across the country,” Dalton says.
“One of the greatest challenges is that exploitation is often hidden in plain sight.”
A child may be enticed with a vape, a cigarette or alcohol, or it could be the promise of friendship and fitting in.
“It doesn’t discriminate,” Dalton adds.
“It’s happening to children from all backgrounds, from all areas. They’ll cast a very wide net, and identify an individual child and find the vulnerability in their life.”
A greater awareness and recognition of child exploitation could be one factor behind the increasing numbers of people accessing support through the charity. But that’s not the whole picture.
“Criminal gangs are becoming increasingly sophisticated in how they identify, groom and control vulnerable children, often using social media and peer networks,” Dalton explains.
“At the same time, factors such as poverty, school exclusion, and poor mental health are clearly impacting. “
Driven by deprivation?
Local safeguarding partnerships have consistently highlighted high deprivation as a core vulnerability that county lines gangs exploit, with rates of poverty across Teesside above the national average.
The latest Department for Education (DfE) Children in Need census revealed that Middlesbrough, where over a third of children are living in poverty, has the highest level of need for social care in the country, while neighbouring Redcar & Cleveland is ranked fifth. Both have some of the highest levels of deprivation nationally.
