Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Thursday 27 February 2025 by Jill Powell

Six people who exploited Vietnamese workers who had been smuggled into the UK for forced labour on cannabis farms have been convicted

Mai Van Nguyen, 35, Duong Dinh, 38, Nghĩa Dinh Tran, 30,  Shamraiz Akhtar, 54, Tasawar Hussain, 54, and Amjad Nawaz, 43, were found guilty of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of people with a view to forcing them to work in exploitative conditions on cannabis farms and of a conspiracy to produce cannabis between 1 June 2020 and 18 August 2022 at Birmingham Crown Court.

A long and detailed investigation by the National Crime Agency supported by the Crown Prosecution Service discovered that the defendants arranged for victims, people who had been smuggled illegally into the UK, to be trafficked around the UK to work in cannabis farms.  The defendants conspired together to move the victims, equipment, and cannabis around the UK.  The victims were held in conditions of modern slavery where their movements were controlled.  The Prosecution case showed that all of the defendants were involved in conspiracy to produce cannabis on a large scale.

Lauren Doshi of the Crown Prosecution Service said:  

“These defendants make use of vulnerable people who are driven by poverty to seek to work illegally in the UK.  They were forced to involve themselves in the production of cannabis in order to repay debts incurred in Vietnam as well as the cost of their travel to the UK. They were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands. The CPS is continuing to work with law enforcement partners to discourage, disrupt and dismantle this exploitative trade through prosecutions and cross-border collaboration.”

Source: Action Fraud published on this site Tuesday 25 February 2025 by Jill Powell

People looking to snap up online holiday deals ahead of the summer are being warned to stay extra alert and do their research before booking their getaways, as new data reveals victims lost a total of over £11 million to holiday fraud last year.

Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, has launched a holiday fraud campaign, urging the public who are looking to snap up their next holiday deals online to look out for suspiciously enticing offers online, including on social media, and do their research before booking their getaways.

New data shows there were 6,066 reports of holiday fraud made to Action Fraud last year, with July recorded as the highest month of reporting, with 647 reports.

Holiday makers lost a combined total of £11,183,957 in 2024, which is comparatively less than the £12.3 million lost in 2023. Despite the drop in reported losses, the average loss per victim remains at similar levels, with £1,851 the average in 2023 and £1,844 in 2024.

What can you do to protect yourself from holiday fraud?

• Check the travel company is legitimate. About to book a holiday? Do some research first to check that the company is legitimate, especially if you haven’t used them before. Use consumer websites, or reviews from people (or organisations) that you trust.
• Look for the logos. Look for the ABTA, ABTOT or ATOL logos on the company’s website. If you’re unsure, you can use the links below to verify membership:
  • ABTA - https://www.abta.com
  • ABTOT - https://www.abtot.com/abtot-members-directory/
  • ATOL - https://www.atol.org
• Use a credit card to pay. Use a credit card for payments (if you have one). Many of these protect online purchases as part of the Consumer Credit Act.
• Only provide required details at checkout. When making your payment, only fill in the mandatory details (often marked with an asterisk) such as your address. Unless you think you’ll become a regular customer, don't create an account for the store.
• Keep your accounts secure. Create a strong and unique password for your email. If 2-step verification is available, always enable it.
• Watch out for suspicious links. Whether it’s in an email or social media post, be wary of promotions for unbelievably good holiday offers. If you receive a suspicious email, report it by forwarding it to: report@phishing.gov.uk

Find out how to protect yourself from fraud: https://stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk

If you’ve lost money or provided your financial information to someone, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

Source: His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published on this website Wednesday 26 February 2025 by Jill Powell

The Metropolitan Police Service has made positive progress in how it tackles the sexual and criminal exploitation of children, but more improvements are required, the police inspectorate has said.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said that through a renewed focus on child exploitation, its links to missing children and the language officers and staff use, the service has made improvements since its previous inspection.

These improvements include:

• how it assesses and investigates the risk to missing children and crimes involving exploited children.
• its supervision of cases, making sure the child is the focus of investigations and better communication with child victims.
• ensuring its audit processes identify victim-blaming language and increased activity to help eradicate it; and
• better oversight arrangements for its response to missing children and use of innovative techniques to help find them more quickly.

However, HMICFRS said that the service still has more work to do to improve further in these areas and to provide a consistently good service.

For example, inspectors described several examples where cases of missing children were graded incorrectly. In some cases, the service didn’t do enough, or act quickly enough, to find children. The inspectorate also said that there were too many missed opportunities to follow lines of enquiry to trace offenders.

HMICFRS found that the service still has problems in complying with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime and rarely carries out initial victim needs assessments. This can have a negative effect on the service a victim receives throughout the criminal justice system.

Constabulary Lee Freeman said:His Majesty’s Inspector of said:

“Children who go missing from home, or are at risk of exploitation, are some of the most vulnerable in society. Public services including the police have a shared responsibility to look for the warning signs, be alert to the risks and act quickly to protect children. But when we inspected the Metropolitan Police Service in 2023, it wasn’t doing enough when children were suffering from, or at risk of, exploitation. We issued three causes of concern.

“I am therefore pleased to report that the senior leadership response to the issues we raised has been positive, and we have closed the causes of concern. The decision by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, Sir Andy Cooke, to return the service to our default phase of monitoring, was supported by these closures.

“The service’s children’s strategy now sets out the commissioner’s ambition to adopt a ‘child first’ approach. This aims to make sure officers and staff recognise that children are different to adults and should be treated differently because they have different needs and vulnerabilities. However, the service still has more work to do to improve further and to provide a consistently good service. We will continue to closely monitor its progress.”

Get the report The Metropolitan Police Service’s handling of the sexual and criminal exploitation of children: Causes of concern – revisit

Source: Home Office published n this website Monday 24 February 2025 by Jill Powell

Children and vulnerable people who are exploited by gangs for criminal purposes will receive greater protection, with two new criminal offences set to be introduced by the government next week.

Landmark legislation will be brought forward to ban cuckooing, a highly exploitative practice where criminals seize control of a vulnerable person’s home without consent to conduct illegal activities like drug dealing.

Another new offence will be created against adults who use a child to commit criminal activity. Both of these measures will be part of the government’s landmark Crime and Policing Bill, which is set to be introduced in Parliament next week and forms a key part of the government’s Plan for Change. 

Current estimates show that approximately 14,500 children were identified as at risk or involved in child criminal exploitation (CCE) in 2023 to 2024, although this is likely an underestimate as many exploited children will not be known to authorities.

However, under current legislation, only a small number of individuals have been charged for using children in criminal activity.

This standalone CCE offence will therefore look to target those adults who unscrupulously groom and exploit children into criminal activity, such as county lines drug running or organised robbery, as well as increasing the opportunities for children to be identified.

Those convicted of committing a CCE offence could face a maximum of 10 years in prison, sending a clear message that this form of child exploitation will never be tolerated.

These measures will be introduced in the Crime and Policing Bill alongside the new CCE offence.

It is commonly associated with drug supply, serious violence and antisocial behaviour, seeing people often with disabilities or those with substance misuse issues targeted by criminals for their own personal gain. 

The introduction of this new offence will target individuals who take over the homes of vulnerable people for criminal purposes and punish them for the harm caused. It will carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.