Podcast Summary: The Story – INVESTIGATION: On the line - the loophole

Podcast: The Story (The Times) Episode Title: INVESTIGATION: On the line - the loophole (On the Line, Episode Three) Air Date: March 23, 2026 Host: David Collins (Sunday Times Northern Editor) Main Guests: Sgt. Mike Brocken, Det. Sgt. Amy Foster, Police Constable Phil Hallam, DI Cheryl Quinn, and District Crown Prosecutor Rachel Baldwin

Episode Overview

This episode unpacks an alarming trend at the heart of county lines drug operations: children, some as young as 14, are not only running drugs but increasingly taking control of entire drug lines. The episode explores how legal protections designed to help victims of exploitation are being manipulated—intentionally or otherwise—to shield young offenders from prosecution, inadvertently encouraging criminal organisations to put children in positions of power.

The investigation, grounded in a year-long embed with North Yorkshire Police, spotlights the operational, cultural, and legal "loophole" that may be fuelling this disturbing evolution in organised drug crime.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Rise of Child Line-Holders

• Case Introduction: The police arrest 18-year-old Solomon Samrawi in Leeds (01:12). He confesses to dealing and is sent to a young offenders institution.
• Fast Forward: A year later, Samrawi is arrested again, this time connected to York’s Operation Titan. He’s believed to run the “SAM line.” (02:26, 02:52)
• Key Insight: Even when top-level offenders are caught, the drug line doesn’t die—it goes quiet, then resumes. “The SAM line went completely silent... [then] started sending out messages once again.” (04:41, David Collins)

2. How County Lines Work & Their Expansion

• Mechanics: “Sam was then one of 20 county lines running into the city selling crack cocaine and heroin via text message.” (03:11, David Collins)
• Evolving Tactics: Both the SAM and Diego lines recruited minors to transfer risk of arrest and violence. (03:41)
• Rapid Growth: The number of bulk text message drug offers shot up from 25 to 403 in five months—equating to potential weekly profits of £6,000, or over £300,000/year. (06:14–07:49, Mike Brocken & David Collins)

3. Children as Victims and Perpetrators

• Targeting Vulnerable Children: “They’re seen as disposable assets.... Human beings at the end of the day, vulnerable at that....” (09:44, DS Amy Foster)
• Caring but Ineffective Interventions: Multi-agency efforts focus on safeguarding, but kids resist help, not seeing themselves as victims—often due to the allure or necessity of money: “...they actually feel like they're being looked after because my mama only gave me a tenor.” (17:20, DI Cheryl Quinn)
• Notable Case: “Usain,” a 14-year-old, recruited after being left in the UK by his mother, is swept into county lines. He accrues a £1,000 drug debt after losing stock—a classic exploitation trap. (12:13, 14:43, Cheryl Quinn)

4. The “Loophole”—Children Running Lines

• Unprecedented Situation: Police are shocked to find not just youth runners, but teens holding the lines. (17:36, David Collins; 18:23–19:00, Cheryl Quinn and Amy Foster)
• Wider Pattern: York alone identified four out of 13 lines held by children. Nationally, officers report seeing this more often. (19:00, Amy Foster; 19:14, Mike Brocken)
• Why It Happens: “As a child, they can very quickly say, I’ve been exploited. Even if they haven’t, they can still try and use that as a defence.” (19:22, Mike Brocken)

5. The Modern Slavery Act and Legal Tangle

• How the Law Works:
  • The 2015 Act mandates referrals via the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for suspected exploited children, whether or not the child consents. (22:24, 24:25, Rachel Baldwin)
  • Section 45 Defence: Allows those accused of a crime to argue that their actions resulted from exploitation. For children, there’s no need to prove compulsion—just potential exploitation suffices. (25:53, Rachel Baldwin)
  • CPS Guidance: After 2023 revisions, more active checking of "exploitation" claims. (30:19, Rachel Baldwin)
• Law Enforcement Frustrations:
  • Sgt. Mike Brocken: “It’s a big frustration... not necessarily how it was intended when it was brought into legislation.” (27:19)
  • Criminals exploit the protections, recruiting kids to run lines with the promise of lesser or no consequences. (28:44, Mike Brocken)
• Abuse of the System: “Section 45 defence can be open to abuse by unscrupulous individuals and criminal gangs who exploit the existence of the defence....” (29:12, Cheryl Quinn)
• The “County Lines Defence”: The widespread use of modern slavery protection for drug runners is now infamous among both criminals and law enforcement. (29:49, Rachel Baldwin)

6. Is It Working? Two Sides of the Justice Coin

• Prosecution View: Rachel Baldwin, CPS, says improved guidance and tougher evidence checks mean the Section 45 defence is not a “get out of jail free card.” (30:11–30:33)
  • Example: A repeat-offending teenage line-holder—helped once as a victim, prosecuted the second time after refusing support. (32:24–33:49)
• Police View: Mike Brocken sees the same type of situation as a system failure—support is extended, but reoffending continues as teens exploit the loophole. (34:14–35:58)
  • “Maybe I’m naive, but to me he does not present or sound like someone who has been exploited. He’s using it as a loophole.” (35:27, Brocken)

7. The Difficulty of a Perfect System

• Practical Problems: Case delays (up to 14 months) due to bottlenecks in handling NRM paperwork, and the balance between protecting genuine victims and inadvertently empowering exploiters. (35:58)

• Systemic Catch-22: While legislation is well-intentioned and necessary, criminals are adaptive—fixing one problem may lead to another. (36:35–37:17, Rachel Baldwin)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “As a child, they can very quickly say, 'I've been exploited.' Even if they haven't, they can still try and use that as a defence.”
  — Sgt. Mike Brocken [19:22]

• “They're seen as disposable assets. They can just be easily replaced. You know, they're human beings at the end of the day. Vulnerable at that.”
  — DS Amy Foster [09:44]

• “Section 45 defence can be open to abuse by unscrupulous individuals and criminal gangs who exploit the existence of the defence to assist them in recruiting and coercing others...”
  — DI Cheryl Quinn [29:12]

• “For a child, there’s no requirement of compulsion... And that's a really big distinction because that's where quite a lot of the adult Section 45 cases will fail.”
  — Rachel Baldwin [25:53]

• “You get all these kids that we're trying to manage and safeguard and stop having contact. But when you speak to them, they say that we're not being exploited because making money, they're not in school, they're not in education, but he's putting £250 in the pocket a week.”
  — DI Cheryl Quinn [16:57]

• “I think it's really important that the real victims of trafficking and modern day slavery are protected, but it's also really important that people that aren't are prosecuted. And it's a really difficult balance to find.”
  — Rachel Baldwin [32:03]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:12 | Introduction: Solomon Samrawi case/Journey into County Lines | | 03:11 | County Lines overview and direct competition in York | | 06:14 | Volume and economics of bulk drug messaging | | 09:00 | Child exploitation: safeguarding and police approaches | | 12:13 | The story of “Usain,” a 14-year-old exploited child | | 16:57 | Children’s perception: Not exploited, just earning | | 17:36 | Discovery of children as line holders | | 19:22 | Legal defense & rise of the “loophole” | | 22:24 | The Modern Slavery Act & National Referral Mechanism | | 25:53 | Section 45 defence and prosecutorial challenge | | 29:12 | Abuse of the Section 45/“County lines defence” | | 30:19 | Changes to CPS guidance/prosecution improvements | | 34:14 | Judicial and police disagreement on outcomes | | 36:35 | Broader debate: can legislation ever be watertight? |

Conclusion

This episode exposes a deeply troubling shift in the battle against county lines: as protections for exploited children increase, so too does the criminal sophistication in misusing these defences. Police frustration is palpable as more cases arise of children running entire drug networks under the cloak of victimhood, challenging the legal system's ability to balance safeguarding with effective prosecution.

The next episode promises even more direct insight, featuring interviews with children caught up in county lines, shedding personal light on why and how exploitation happens.