Mum's heartbreak as teen drug dealers groom her 12-year-old child to become 'Burnley's best weed dealer'

A group of 15 to 16-year-old boys had groomed Katy (not her real name) into dealing drugs by feeding her free ketamine, which she quickly became addicted to. Ketamine is a class B drug, used as a horse tranquiliser, that can irreversibly damage the nose, liver, kidneys, and bladder, and cause mental health and memory problems.

Katy's mum, Sarah (not her real name), feared for the 12-year-old's life but says she was running out of places to turn to for help. After Katy repeatedly went missing, a desperate attempt to secure support from the police ended with Sarah being arrested.

"I did feel angry at first, absolutely mortified. I felt hatred for the drug dealers. But this isn't 40-year-old men we're dealing with. This is children dealing to children. My daughter was a victim of exploitation. But she's being exploited by slightly older children, who are being exploited by someone else a little bit older. They're someone's kids," said Sarah.

She believes child drug dealing in Burnley is "massive", saying it's been accepted as a normal way of life for many young people.

For Sarah's family, it started when Katy began consuming alcohol and smoking weed around age 12 to escape her struggles with friends and at school. The youngster then began spending time with older children around 15 to 16-years-old.

But "everything spiralled out of control" when Sarah received a shocking video showing her daughter's friends holding her by the ankles and dropping her head-first down a flight of stairs. "It was shocking. I was sickened to the bone watching it," Sarah said.

"Katy went straight to the bottom of the stairs, got up, and laughed.

"It was horrific."

Sarah contacted the social services but felt they couldn't do much to help as her daughter didn't want to engage with them.

Last September, Katy went missing from home 16 times, and her mum found out that a group of teenagers were giving her free ketamine in return for distributing it. She also discovered Katy had been stealing from home to buy ketamine, had been injured numerous times while intoxicated, and was suffering from side effects of the drug, like abdominal pains.

"I was frightened the next knock on the door would be the police telling me she'd been found dead. I was desperate," said Sarah.

The mum explained how dealers "manipulate" children with promises of acceptance and belonging, and isolate them from their loved ones.

She described the web of dealers her daughter was caught up in as including "three generations still under 20-years-old," with the older adults further up the chain being "invisible."

Meanwhile, Katy's addiction became so intense that "she couldn't go one day without [ketamine]". To fund it, she developed a meticulous business plan "to become the best weed dealer in Burnley", which her parents discovered while searching for information regarding her whereabouts.

Sarah believed that if she refused to let her daughter back in the house when the police retrieved her, telling them she could not keep Katy safe, they could exercise Police Powers of Protection (PPP). This means a child can be placed in suitable accommodation for protection, such as with a relative, at a hospital, or in a foster home for 72 hours, when police reasonably believe the minor would otherwise be significantly harmed. Sarah hoped social services would secure drug rehabilitation and mental health support for Katy, which the family was struggling to access. When the police used their PPP, Katy went into temporary foster care for three days and began seeing a support worker twice a week, who tried to encourage her to return to education, having been out of school for over a year.

Despite this, Katy went missing throughout October. One night, when the police returned her home, Sarah refused her entry, hoping officers would again exercise their PPP. But she says she was instead manhandled and arrested for child abandonment and neglect, alongside her husband.

"It was intense and horrifying. We felt we were treated like criminals," said Sarah.

Speaking about the incident, a police spokesperson said: "We attended a property in Burnley at 9-52pm on 29th October 2024 to return a child who had previously been reported missing from home.

"While at the address, concerns were raised about the welfare of the child, and after consulting with our partners, the decision was made to arrest a 42-year-old woman from Burnley and a 45-year-old man from Burnley on suspicion of child neglect.

"During the course of attempting to arrest the man, an officer received an injury to his foot. The man was further arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.

"After reviewing all the circumstances and evidence, it was decided that no further action would be taken against both individuals.

"We work closely with our partners to ensure we do everything in our powers to ensure the most vulnerable members of society are protected."

We asked Lancashire County Council about the role of social services in this case. While they did not wish to comment on it, Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, LCC's Director of Public Health, said: "There has been an increase in ketamine use nationally so it is incredibly important for us to work together with our partners to help stop ketamine getting into our communities.

"We are already providing support to those affected by ketamine and their families, as well as delivering sessions to children and parents to educate them about the dangers of ketamine."

Sarah believes Katy, now 13, is off the drug and praises the support they received from the Ivison Trust, a Leeds charity helping families of exploited children. She isn't aware of a similar service available in Burnley.

But she fears for other families, saying: "Even when you're desperate and asking for help, you could be criminalised for it. That's shocking because all those services are meant to keep you safe."