Daily roundup 27 November: Money mules, mental health, and 'super spreaders'

The number of young people caught acting as "money mules" has doubled in the past four years, according to the UK's fraud prevention service, Cifas. The BBC reports that mules allow their bank account to be used by others to transfer money in and out of it, and in return, keep some of the money for themselves. The money to be laundered is likely to have come from drug smuggling, people trafficking and terrorism, experts say.


Six out of every 10 children and young people referred for specialist mental healthcare by their GP are not receiving treatment, figures show. The Guardian reports that data from 32 NHS trusts in England, obtained by Spurgeons children's charity, showed about 60 per cent of under-18s who are referred to child and adolescent mental health services by their GP are not receiving treatment.


Parents are being urged to vaccinate their "super-spreader" children against flu in time for Christmas to avoid putting grandparents at risk. The Telegraph reports that health officials say that without the flu vaccination youngsters are more likely to contract the virus at nursery or school and spread it at a rapid rate.


Thousands of children and teenagers are being used by criminal gangs as drug runners in a grooming scandal with echoes of Rotherham and Rochdale, it has been claimed. The Times reports that the National Crime Agency believes that the "county lines" drug trade, in which urban gangs move Class A drugs and cash between inner-city hubs and out-of-town locations, is out of control, with officers identifying more than 700 of the operations.


A mother who starved her seven-year-old daughter to death and neglected five other children has been freed from jail after serving less than half of her sentence. The Mirror reports that Angela Gordon and Junaid Abuhamza admitted killing Khyra Ishaq in 2008. She served half a 15-year sentence for manslaughter and child cruelty charges imposed in 2010.