Lessons need to be learnt by authorities over the death of Ben Nelson-Roux - Nathan Hyde

His family said he was “spiralling desperately out of control” in the last year of his life, as he was frequently taking drugs, getting arrested, injuring himself and threatening to take his own life, while the people who had been brought in to help were focused on “ticking boxes”.

He was eventually found dead by his mother in a hostel for homeless adults in Harrogate, in April 2020, after taking a number of drugs.

Sadly, Ben is not alone. Former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield has been calling on the Government to develop a new strategy to tackle the nationwide “epidemic of exploitation” and she has highlighted Government figures which show 11,600 cases of children becoming involved in gangs were recorded in 2021/22.

The criminals often win over young people by offering them gifts and a sense of belonging, before coercing them into selling drugs and committing violent acts.

If we want to prevent more children from ending up like Ben, we can't let the family’s questions fall on deaf ears.

Why was no suitable and safe accommodation available to someone who was clearly being exploited? Why was no drug and alcohol treatment offered? And why were the family’s requests for mental health assessments repeatedly denied when he was clearly deteriorating?

But we also need to accept that these gangs will do whatever it takes to get hold of these children, because they have become a central part of their business model, and we need to be prepared to fight back with the same determination.

At a recent inquest, many of the professionals appointed to help Ben agreed he was a likeable and thoughtful boy, but they couldn’t help him turn his life around because he was reluctant to engage and stop drinking and taking drugs.

Psychiatrist Dr David Loveday-Sims said the teenager, who struggled with ADHD, paranoia and was also prone to self-harm and extreme mood swings, had been self medicating with illegal drugs.

He concluded that Ben was not suffering from a serious mental illness, before his case was closed because he missed two appointments in March 2020.

However, the drug dealers had no trouble engaging Ben.

Ms Roux said they began offering her son cannabis, shortly after he started secondary school, and when he fell into debt they coerced him into trafficking and Class A selling drugs in cities like Sheffield and York.

North Yorkshire Council Council sent him to live at a hostel for homeless adults, after his mother asked him to leave the family home in January 2020 following a series of violent outbursts, but the teenager refused to be taken into care.

Safeguarding experts became increasingly concerned about Ben in the final months of his life and they were due to meet and discuss what needed to be done to protect him on April 8. That meeting was cancelled after he was found dead in his room.

Nathan Hyde is a senior reporter at The Yorkshire Post.