By Stephen Wright and Louise Eccles
Last updated at 8:49 AM on 13th October 2010
A pregnant 12-year-old girl was among 28 Romanian children rescued yesterday as police smashed a suspected child-trafficking ring.
The youngsters, who were allegedly forced to beg and steal for Fagin-style criminal masters, were among 103 children found at 16 addresses in East London.
Eight adults were arrested, including three for benefit fraud worth £50,000, while a three-year-old boy was taken to hospital with facial injuries and bruising.
Child-trafficking ring: Six arrest were made at properties in East London following a case in Romania last when 24 people went on trial accused of bringing almost 200 Roma children to Britain to steal and beg
Child-trafficking ring: Six arrest were made at properties in East London following a case in Romania last when 24 people went on trial accused of bringing almost 200 Roma children to Britain to steal and beg
The arrests were linked to a court case in Romania last month, when 24 people went on trial accused of bringing almost 200 Roma children to Britain to steal and beg.
The Met received intelligence suggesting the suspects in the court case were part of a child-trafficking network which extended to Ilford, East London.
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At dawn yesterday, officers raided a series of rented properties in Ilford and immediately took 28 ‘at-risk’ children, aged three to 17, into police protection.
Health and social services officials were interviewing a further 75 youngsters to establish whether they, too, should be taken into care.
Sources said some of the child pickpockets earned up to £300 a day, but rarely received even a small fraction of the proceeds.
Most shocking of all was the discovery at one address of a 12-year-old Romanian girl in the early stages of pregnancy.
It appeared she was not living with her parents and urgent inquiries were under way to establish whether they are in the UK, and whether the girl had ever attended school.
Rescue: Police rescued 28 Romanian children including one pregnant 12-year-old girl following the raid in Ilford, Essex
Rescue: Police rescued 28 Romanian children including one pregnant 12-year-old girl following the raid in Ilford, Essex
Fagin-style criminals: It's thought that the children were forced to beg and steal on the streets of London
Fagin-style criminals: It's thought that the children were forced to beg and steal on the streets of London
Superintendent Bernie Gravett, who led yesterday’s operation, told the Mail: ‘It gives us great concern to find a child in this condition at such a tender age.
‘This operation has not been about arresting people. It’s about tracing potential victims of trafficking.’
Six of the 28 children were found at one address alone, and one of the six – a three-year-old boy – was taken immediately to hospital to investigate bruising and facial injuries.
Fraud: Three adults were arrested for alleged benefit fraud worth £50,000
Fraud: Three adults were arrested for alleged benefit fraud worth £50,000
Three of the arrested adults are accused of assaulting a young child and child neglect.
The alleged benefits cheats are accused of swindling £50,000 worth of child tax credits and housing benefits.
Last night, residents said they were not surprised to hear about the raids. Neighbours reported dishevelled-looking children as young as four roaming the streets late at night.
Michelle Thomas, 42, lives near Baden Road and Mayville Road, where three of the raids took place.
She said: ‘There were always dozens of them and they looked really rough and had cuts on their faces and shabby clothes.
‘The children – some of them were tiny, maybe only four – would walk to the takeaways by themselves. They would say “give me some food” to the owners.’
Told about the arrests, she said: ‘That explains it all then.’
She said a woman in Mayville Road, whose address was among those raided, had ten children living in the house.
‘She was controlling about ten kids. I used to think, “how can an 18-year-old have all those children?”.’
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