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Upton, left, and Joyson, right.
Members of a county lines gang have been jailed for exploiting three boys to sell drugs.
The 16-year-olds were recruited to sell crack cocaine and heroin to people suffering from addiction.
The drug line was being run as a county lines network by Jamie Upton alongside his second in command Kade Joyson and Upton’s partner at the time, Georgia Burns, who was a courier of the boys.
The trio were given mobile phones and transported numerous times along the M62 between Tameside and Hull, often missing from home for numerous days.
They would stay overnight in properties that were dirty, littered with crack cocaine and heroin, drug paraphernalia and frequently visited by people addicted to drugs. The properties were described as crack dens and were so bad, Upton refused to stay in them, instead opting for a nearby hotel.
To ensure the boys co-operated, threats of violence would often be used. On one occasion Joyson threatened that he would ‘chop’ the sister of one of the boys to make him carry on with their demands and adhere to their directions.
The supply of class A drugs operating from Greater Manchester into Hull was first discovered by police officers in Humberside on 17 April 2020.
A property on Beverley Road in Hull was being used as a place to store and deal crack cocaine and heroin.
Humberside Police spotted a drug dealer leave the flat and head towards an alleyway where he attempted to sell a plain clothed officer class A drugs.
The flat was quickly raided by police and one of the boys was with Upton flushing drugs down a toilet.
Several arrests were made, while multiple mobile phones were seized along with £3000 in cash. They were released under investigation to allow further enquiries to be completed.
In June 2020 Greater Manchester Police were made aware of concerns surrounding one of the boys who had gone missing from home. Enquiries to locate him were carried out and this led back to Hull and a flat on Warnerford Gardens.
Officers from Humberside went to the address and found the missing boy in the living room asleep on the sofa, surrounded by five mobile phones and a small quantity of money.
It was at this point that officers from Tameside’s child criminal exploitation team became involved.
Text messages uncovered a chilling story of exploitation and cross-country drug dealing. Burns would drive one of the boys to and from Hull on numerous occasions with the knowledge that it was to facilitate drug dealing and would often praise Upton’s criminality.
When travelling with one of the boys, she messaged Upton to comment on his appearance, saying he ‘stinks’ and they both found it amusing.
After an 11-month operation police had obtained significant information relating to the group and firmly identified who they were looking for.
Upton was further arrested in his bed following a warrant at Crammond Close in Newton Heath, Manchester on 5 March 2021.
Approximately £10,000 worth of crack cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, crystal meth, amphetamine and ketamine were found following a search of his home. He was also in possession of 19 mobile phones, a rifle and Glock magazines containing ammunition.
He pleaded guilty to these offences in November 2021 and was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment.
Joyson left the country in August 2020 and in the process of obtaining a European arrest warrant, police were alerted to his return to the United Kingdom. He had been planning to go to Ireland to change his name and obtain a new passport.
When he returned, on 2 April 2022, he did not envisage officers from GMP waiting to arrest him.
Upton, Joyson and Burns were charged and the evidence against them led to all three-pleading guilty.
On Thursday 18 May 2023 Upton, Joyson, and Burns were sentenced at Bolton Crown Court.
Detective Constable Laura Hughes, of Tameside’s Child Criminal Exploitation Team, said: “Upton oversaw an organised crime group that operated a county lines network that was centred on exploitation.
“The group cared more about profits than they did about people. The boys were told they would make good money that they naively thought would be easy, however the reality is that they were seen as cheap labour and put to work selling drugs, then moved up and down the motorway to facilitate this.
“These children are vulnerable, often suffering from physical or mental illness, in social care, exclusion from school or at risk of neglect, making them a target for criminals. Once a friendship has been portrayed, the true reality begins to surface, debts need paying and threats of violence start to occur.
“I welcome the sentencing that has been passed today. It is the second conviction of child criminal exploitation under modern slavery for GMP and the Tameside district. We are committed to rooting out the exploiters and bringing them to justice to protect children.”
Here are signs of child criminal exploitation to look out for and below are services available to seek help and support: Unexplained gifts, money and new expensive clothes or accessories; Increased missing from home episodes; New friendship groups; Receiving excessive calls or messages from ‘new friends’; Carrying weapons and may have a few mobile phones; Secretive or withdrawn from family and/or friends; Getting picked up or dropped off by unknown people; Not seeing the person who lives there, and a clear change in behaviour and routine; Increase in visitors or cars to a house or flat at unsociable hours; Signs of drug use such as strange smells coming from the property; Windows covered or curtains closed all the time; People talking on phones outside the address.
Detective Chief Inspector for vulnerability in Tameside, Anna Barker added: “We are once again demonstrating that by working with neighbouring police forces, the local authority and other supporting agencies we’re identifying and safeguarding young children from exploitation as well as targeting and dismantling those involved in a truly despicable crime.
“I want to thank Humberside Police, Tameside Council and the Crown Prosecution Service for the extensive support they have offered to the investigation that has ensured we’ve secured a second conviction case for modern slavery here at GMP.
“We know there are children in Manchester who will be experiencing this, and I want to reassure them that there is support and help available whether that’s by speaking to a youth worker, a charity such as Catch 22 or by contacting Fearless anonymously if they don’t feel comfortable speaking to police.”
Catch 22 is a specialist support and rescue service for young people and their families who are criminally exploited through county lines.
Safecall offers a safe space for people affected by exploitation to talk about their experiences in confidence and can also provide reassurance, support and help formulate a plan via their dedicated service.
Young people can contact Crimestopper's via Fearless to access non-judgemental information and advice.
The National Crime Agency County Lines website explains more about county lines and indicators of exploitation in your area.
The Safeguarding Network have helpful tips for understanding indicators of exploitation and what may make a young person more vulnerable to being exploited.
If drug activity is taking place in your community, please contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or by calling GMP on 101.