Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fresh crackdown on ‘county lines’ drug dealing in the north-east

Home Secretary Amber Rudd appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme The Andrew Marr Show (BBC/PA)
Home Secretary Amber Rudd appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme The Andrew Marr Show (BBC/PA)

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has announced a fresh crackdown on so-called “county lines” drug dealing, which reaches out into the north-east.

As the number of murders in London has outstripped that of New York for the first time in the last couple of months, Ms Rudd has launched the government’s first Serious Violence Strategy.

The strategy will link police with councils, schools and other partners across the country to tackle “county lines” drug-running from gangs into major cities like London out into other areas – at first the Home Counties but now extending north into Scotland, including Aberdeen.

Ms Rudd said: “This strategy represents a real step-change in the way we think about and respond to these personal tragedies, these gruesome violent crimes which dominate the front pages of our newspapers with seemingly depressing regularity.

“A crucial part of our approach will be focusing on and investing more in prevention and early intervention.

“We need to engage with our young people early and to provide the incentives and credible alternatives that will prevent them from being drawn into crime in the first place. This in my view is the best long-term solution.

“Because what better way to stop knife crime than by stopping young people from picking up knives in the first place?”

Police Scotland Detective Chief Inspector Garry Mitchell confirmed police in Aberdeen and further north were involved in the strategy to tackle “the so-called county lines phenomenon” and had been working alongside police in England and Wales using Drug Dealing Telecommunication Restriction Orders (DDTROs), introduced at the start of the year.

“This particular issue has been recognised in the north and north-east for a number of years and Police Scotland, and legacy forces, have tackled it on an ongoing basis,” he said.

“The key focus of our activity is the disruption of those involved in drug dealing activity and those exploiting rural communities in the north.

“We are aware of the disruption element of the DDTROs and are working in line with UK activity in developing this tactic.

“In all our work we collaborate with UK law enforcement partners and with the third party sector to prevent any vulnerable people in the community from being targeted.”

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott MP, however, flagged-up an apparent lack of new money or extra police officers to tackle street violence.

“The Tories’ concern about knife crime doesn’t even run so far as providing new money or extra officers to tackle it,” she said.

“The Tories have slashed police funding and resources, leaving them struggling to cope with rising serious crime.

“This latest announcement looks like a cover up of their own failures.”