Asian And Somali Kids In Grip Of Drug Barons

February 2, 2005

A JUDGE today issued a plea to the families of Sheffield's Asian and Somalian teenagers to help stop their children working for major drug dealers.

Judge Robert Moore warned that a growing number of the city's Asian and Somalian youngsters are being recruited as foot soldiers by drug barons. And he urged Sheffield's Asian communities put pressure on their young men to stop them working in "clearing houses" where the drugs are cut into small street deals.

The stark warning came as Judge Moore locked up a 20-year-old Somalian man after he admitted to a charge of conspiring to supply Class A drugs worth £2,700.

Judge Moore told Sheffield Crown Court: "I want to say a few words to the Asian community. This is the third case in the last few weeks where Asian youths aged 15 to 20 have been recruited by drug dealers to run clearing houses for serious drugs.

"It's a new development in these parts and it needs to be stopped.

"The police and the courts will play their part, but the parents, relatives and elders of these vulnerable people must realise what is going on and bring pressure to bear from within their own community."

Judge Moore, the area's ethnic minority liaison judge, sentenced Mahamood Ahmed, who had allowed crack cocaine to be broken down into street deals at his home. Ahmed, aged 20, of Convent Walk in Sheffield city centre, was caught red-handed along with a 15-year-old and two other teenagers, aged 17 and 18, in a police raid.

He was sentenced to three and a half years in a young offenders institution and the other youths, who cannot be named for legal reason, are to be dealt with later this month.

Coun Ibrar Hussain, who represents the Burngreave and Fir Vale areas, said the Asian and Somalian communities have raised concerns over youngsters becoming embroiled in the world of drugs.

"I don't think this is just an issue for the Asian community - young people getting involved with drugs at all levels is something which seems to be affecting communities across the board and as such needs to be addressed across the board.
"Drugs are a problem in the Fir Vale ward I represent, as they are in many parts of Sheffield, and the Asian and Somalian communities have raised their concerns, holding public meetings about the situation.

"It is worrying that there appears to be a new trend emerging and I am sure parents and the wider community will take the judge's comments on board and really keep an eye on their children. "But it is equally important for the law enforcement agencies to play their part too if we are really going to get to the bottom of this and stop it."

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