'Missed opportunity' in Bournemouth to help Jaden Moodie

Jaden Moodie was murdered when he was knocked off a scooter and stabbed nine times in Leyton, east London, on January 8 last year.

A serious case review published yesterday found that he had been groomed by criminal gangs for at least a year before he died.

In October 2018, he was found in a Bournemouth flat with 39 wraps of crack cocaine, two larger packages of the class A drug, an unregistered mobile phone and £325 in cash. Police believed the flat was a “cuckoo” property – one taken over by county lines drugs gangs to use as a base for dealing.

14-year-old Jaden Moodie was murdered in January last year aged

Jaden was arrested for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply. His appropriate adult during police interview said he appeared to be “a vulnerable young person frightened by what he was being groomed and coerced into by others”.

He asked to be allowed to call the Samaritans while he was still in custody. After the interview, his mother, Jada Bailey, was contacted to go and collect him from where she was living in east London, but she cannot drive. No-one was available from Waltham Forest Council to make the journey as it was 11pm, so two Dorset Police officers drove Jaden home.

The review said: “The arrangements for responding to Child C and eventually returning him to London in particular represent a missed opportunity.

“Had it been possible for Child C to have met specialist child exploitation workers while still in custody, and then brought back to London by these workers, and ideally if they could have continued to work with him for a time after his return, I believe such workers would have been able to exploit the ‘reachable moment’ of this crisis in the police station, during the car journey, and then subsequently, and start exploring with Child C the risks to him of his vulnerability to exploitation.

“But this was not the brief of the Dorset Police officers who were providing a well-intended but basic service in driving Child C back to London.”

Ayoub Majdouline was found guilty of Jaden's murder

The review concluded his murder could not have been anticipated. Ayoub Majdouline, 19, from Wembley, north-west London, was jailed for life in December for Jaden’s murder. Police are looking for four other men over his death.

Inspector outlines police involvement with arrest

A senior Dorset Police inspector provided a detailed statement to the Daily Echo following the publication of the serious case review by Waltham Forest Safeguarding Children Board.

DCI Stewart Dipple, of Dorset Police’s Public Protection Unit, said: “At 9.20am on Thursday, October 25, 2018, officers attended an address in Hamilton Road in Bournemouth to carry out a welfare check following information received from members of the public.

"A 14-year-old boy from London who was present at the address was arrested on suspicion of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply after a search of the premises revealed a quantity of suspected class A drugs and other items believed to relate to the supply of drugs. Following an interview by officers with an appropriate adult present, the suspect was released under investigation for enquiries to continue.

"After his release from custody, the boy was returned to his home area in London by officers and a safeguarding referral was made to social services at Waltham Forest Council."

'Dorset Police will always look to learn any lessons we can'

DCI Dipple added: “Dorset Police liaised and worked with the family and social services in Waltham Forest and Dorset to find the best solution to returning Jaden home or finding alternative accommodation and the most viable solution at that time was for Dorset Police to safely escort him home to his family.

"We have co-operated fully with the serious case review process and Dorset Police will always look to learn any lessons we can from tragic cases such as this."

Priority effort for county partnership

DCI Dipple said the Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership, of which Dorset Police is a member, has identified child exploitation as a top priority.

He added: "We will continue to work together with our partners and moving forward this multiagency approach will also be informed by any findings in relation to this report.

“We are fully aware of the issues posed by county lines drugs networks operating in Dorset’s communities and their exploitation of vulnerable children.

"We are committed to protecting those vulnerable members of society recognising that working effectively with partners locally and across geographical boundaries is key to tackling this issue and we are always looking at ways to improve this. This has included the adoption of the County Lines Vulnerability Tracker in April 2019 and we have been working with our partners to raise awareness in the community of how to spot the signs that someone may be exploited by county lines drugs gangs.

“For more information on Dorset Police’s efforts to tackle county lines drug networks and support vulnerable people being exploited visit dorset.police.uk/county-lines.”

Report welcomed by Dorset partnership chairman

Anthony Douglas, chair of the Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership, said the group welcomed the report’s recommendations.

He said: “As with any serious case review, it is vital that all agencies understand and apply the specific learning points in the review about the needs of young people caught up in county lines criminal activity and the risks that brings.

“Although not formally a party to this review, members of the Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership have been actively involved throughout and have already acted upon the main learning from this review.

“This incident occurred prior to both the new Local Authority of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP Council) being established and the formation of the Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership.

“The Partnership has, in year one, identified child exploitation as a top priority and has commissioned a further review through the BCP Community Safety Partnership. The areas of multi-agency learning from this serious case review of Child C will be carried forward into this broader workstream.”