CYP Now - Campaigners call for end to use of children as ‘police spies’

Child victims of gangs and sexual abuse continue to be put at further risk of harm by being used as "police spies" despite Home Office action to curb the tactic, a charity has warned.

Children at risk of gang violence are being used as police spies, charities warn. Picture: Adobe Stock

The Home Office has overhauled its Covert Human Intelligence Sources Code of Practice, making clear that children can only be used by the police as spies in “exceptional circumstances”.

But Just for Kids Law says that even with the revisions to the code, “children can still be put in extremely dangerous situations as child spies”. This can lead to them being “abused and exploited”, added the charity

The warning follows legal action by the charity into the use of children as spies by police investigating gangs and other forms of crime.

The issue was to be taken to the Court of Appeal this week by Just for Kids Law, but this legal action “has now been settled”, according to the charity, following Home Office revision of the code.

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