THE family of Bournemouth teenager Mehmet Altun, who died in hospital after taking ecstasy, have said more action is needed to protect children from being exploited by criminal gangs.

An inquest into 13-year-old Mehmet's death heard he had received a child protection plan after concerns were raised that he had been targeted by a county lines operation to deal drugs in Bournemouth.

He died at Poole Hospital on August 19 last year, with his cause of death found to be MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy) toxicity.

In a statement following the inquest, his family said: "The biggest concern and the underlying problem is the child exploitation issue.

"These children and teenagers are the victims and they do not magically find access to these drugs. The exploiters groom and manipulate them into this lifestyle. Sadly, Mehmet was one of them.

"This crisis needs to be shed light upon and people need their awareness raised because it happens right in front of our eyes and unless we're aware of it, it becomes unnoticed.

"They use these children because when they're caught, it never goes back to them. They're smart at what they do and our children take the blame, become neglected by the social services, the school, and the police. Mehmet could have been the one to sell to another, which could have resulted in someone else’s death.

"That's the issue; even if they come from a loving and providing family, any child can become a victim of child exploitation.

"Even though the coroners court can only really give answers to who, when, where and how, it is up to BCP Council to understand why. Why is it that this problem is still occurring? More action needs to be taken."

Following Mehmet's death, the family organised a peaceful demonstration in Bournemouth town centre to highlight the issue of drugs across the area.

His sister Yaz has been working with Escapeline, a charity which is committed to preventing child exploitation by criminal gangs across the south west and raise awareness of county lines activity.

She said: "Unfortunately this is increasingly getting worse every year and the more our children, our parents and our authorities are educated on the matter, the more we can collectively stop drugs being so accessible to children but ultimately guide them away from gang activity.

"No child deserves to live their childhood or teenage years feeling stuck and trapped because they were too scared to say no. I encourage parents to educate themselves because it can happen to anyone."