Barnardos has reported increasing numbers of children who are being forced into crimes such as carrying drugs

A charity has reported increasing numbers of children being forced into crime.

Nearly 60% of Barnardo’s services have described supporting a young person involved in crime in the past year, a survey of the charity’s managers representing 370 services has revealed.

Of those, nearly three quarters thought the young person had been coerced, controlled, deceived or manipulated by others into criminal activity.

To tackle the issue, Barnardo’s is calling for agencies, such as the police, education, health and social care, to work together on a joint approach that recognises the long-term nature of the abuse, exploitation and trauma these children experience and also that they are often coerced into criminal activity.

More than six in 10 of the staff members questioned said that in their experience children who were criminally exploited were also the victims of sexual abuse. And 80% thought technology played an important role in enabling criminal exploitation. More than a third of managers said that in their experience criminal exploitation was increasing (just 1% said it was decreasing).

The study reports cases of young people who are forced to carry weapons, carry and sell drugs, and who go missing and end up in other parts of the country, where they are subjected to sexual exploitation and abuse.

Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “We know that all children in every community are at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation and with new technologies they are vulnerable to being groomed online from their bedrooms.

“The evidence from our services supports growing concerns about a rise in child criminal exploitation, often linked to gangs, drugs, serious violence and sexual abuse.

“We must have a multi-agency approach which recognises the interconnected nature of the threats facing children. Children forced into criminal activity must not be criminalised, but treated as victims and given support which prioritises their safety, recovery and future outcomes.”

Actress and Barnardo’s supporter Lesley Sharp, is a key speaker at a parliamentary reception the charity is hosting this week. She starred in the BBC drama Three Girls about the Rochdale child abuse scandal.

She said: “Three Girls showed how children were not believed and were treated as criminals, rather than the victims they were. Children who have been forced into illegal activities through fear or blackmail should not be criminalised. They must be recognised as victims and given the right support.”