Donny’s Story

Kyle contacted us with concerns about men in their late teens and 20s coming and going from the flat where he used to live with his mum and 13-year-old brother Donny.

Donny’s mum had used drugs heavily for several years and was not receiving any support to help her manage or reduce her usage.

Our Caseworker had Lived Experience of county line involvement and knew the dark reality of this world. Nevertheless, when he visited the family home, he was shocked by what he saw. Piles of needles and other drug paraphernalia were strewn throughout the flat alongside rubbish and half-eaten food. The utilities had been mostly cut off. Neglect was evident throughout. It was a terrible environment for anyone to be living in, and Donny was clearly at a high risk.

The Caseworker took an exhausted, pale Donny out for a burger meal and ordered an extra-large for him in everything as he knew Donny would be hungry.

With someone trustworthy to talk to, Donny immediately started to open up over his meal.  Dealers had moved into the family’s home, and people would often visit to buy and take drugs.  Both Donny and his mum were too frightened to challenge the dealers, so were trapped in the flat, fearing for their safety.  Donny’s mum’s drug use had massively increased as a way of blotting things out.

At first, the dealers had been kind to Donny, regularly buying him food and trendy new clothes. However, their attitude towards him had started to change, and they were now talking about Donny working for them, delivering packages.

The Caseworker knew he had to act fast to protect Donny and raised an urgent referral with social services. He prepared Donny emotionally by explaining to him that he might have to go away from home for a bit while his mum got support to help her off drugs. He told Donny to be strong and said that he would be by his side during this time, which might be lonely and confusing. However, he promised Donny things would get better in the future, and the dealers would go away.

Donny was immediately moved into care on the outskirts of London.  His Caseworker helped him move and visited him regularly. Social services became involved with the whole family, and Donny’s mum finally got support for her drug use.

With help from a range of agencies, the family then started the long road of repairing their lives after the trauma and devastation as a result of the home invasion and exploitation they had endured, which was thankfully a thing of the past.