County lines: A decade of destroyed young lives
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 3 December 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Lucy was 13 when she was robbed by the drug gang she was working for and then stabbed as punishment.
Now in her 20s and living in a refuge, Lucy was one of thousands of children exploited by violent drug gangs.
A decade after authorities first identified the emergence of "county lines" dealing, parents and former child runners have spoken about the devastating impact on their lives.
Niall is joined by Sky's home affairs editor Jason Farrell.
Producer: Tom Gillespie
Editor: Mike Bovill
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sky News, the full story first. |
| 0:08.8 | Coming up, 10 years of drugs, death and the exploitation of children. |
| 0:14.1 | A decade on from authorities identifying the emergence of county lines gangs, |
| 0:18.4 | are we any closer to dealing with the dealers? |
| 0:21.9 | Babe, it's Jim. |
| 0:23.7 | Just voice-noting you because I'm so busy. |
| 0:26.6 | I can't even type right now. |
| 0:28.5 | I'm working on that big presentation for my new launch. |
| 0:32.0 | I'm making it on Canva Mobile like you suggested. |
| 0:34.7 | And it's making everything iconic. |
| 0:38.3 | So it's a bit noisy, babe, Mabst is going off. |
| 0:42.0 | Anyways, I'm going to ping the presentation to you now so you can see what I mean. |
| 0:46.8 | Got to go, hon. |
| 0:48.9 | Thanks for introducing me to Canva. Love you. |
| 0:51.4 | Add water to your will. |
| 0:58.9 | And know that from that single drop, life will grow. |
| 1:01.7 | Communities will flourish. |
| 1:04.1 | A better world will be left. |
| 1:10.6 | By leaving a gift in your will to Water Aid, you'll help bring essential clean water to people who need it to change their |
| 1:12.6 | own lives for generations to come. Add Water Aid to your will. Search WaterAid legacy to find out how. |
| 1:24.9 | Ollie said to his dad, Stuart, no, they don't want the money, Dad. |
| 1:30.2 | They want me to go so they can stab me. |
... |
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