Children Forced To Steal In 'Oliver Twist' Gangs

Children are being forced to work as pickpockets in Oliver Twist-style gangs on Britain's streets, the anti-slavery commissioner warns.

Kevin Hyland, a former Met Police detective, says more needs to be done to stop youngsters being exploited in criminal operations.

"We hear about young children being sent out to do shoplifting, pickpocketing and begging," said Mr Hyland.

"These are young children who should be at school.

"We are in the 21st century and yet we have Oliver Twist scenarios happening in our streets and cities.

"I think we all thought that was gone and in the past but actually it's alive and kicking in London.

"It's pure criminality and abuse of children. But it's all very complicated because of the way the children are groomed."

Mr Hyland says modern slavery - which can involve sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude or forced criminality - is a "very lucrative" business in Britain.

"In sexual exploitation, someone can make £1m a year out of 10 women," he said.

"We see cases of forced labour where people are making hundreds of thousands a month."

But Mr Hyland, who was appointed anti-slavery commissioner in November, says criminals choose modern slavery because there are not enough resources tackling it.

"To a degree they are operating in a low-risk area with high profit," he said.

"A lot of my role has to be to change that, to make it high-risk and no profit."

He says there were 151 convictions for slavery-related offences last year - and that was "nowhere near good enough".

"What's really worrying is the numbers of investigations aren't sufficiently high," he said.

"I'm meeting victims and hear their cases have not been investigated properly. These are things that really need to change."

The Modern Slavery Act was passed into law earlier this year. It increased the maximum sentence for the worst offenders to life in prison.

Mr Hyland describes the legislation as a "watershed", but stressed a lot still needs to be done.

"We need to really change the whole culture towards this activity in the UK and start on the process to eradicate it. It's an enormous task because it's got so many different faces," he said.

Karen Bradley, Home Office minister for preventing abuse and exploitation, said: "The Modern Slavery Act - the first of its kind in Europe - gives the police the tools they need to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and enhances protection for victims who must be recognised for their bravery in coming forward, given the harrowing experiences they have endured.

"For too long, this was a hidden crime.

"Now we have succeeded in bringing modern slavery out into the open we are determined to eradicate it. There is no place for modern slavery in today's society."