Oxfordshire boy groomed by gangs 'let down' by education system

A boy who died after being criminally exploited by gangs was "let down by our education system", a councillor said.

Jacob, 16, was found dead in his bedroom after he had been groomed into a world of drug trafficking.

A case review found major failings by the authorities, including that he was not in school for 21 months.

Councillor Liz Brighouse said Jacob had "a legal right" to an education, and in her view it "verges... on the illegal" that some schools can refuse pupils.

The chairwoman of Oxfordshire County Council's scrutiny committee added: "We should remember that schools are set up to educate children.

"No matter what their background, no matter what their family is like, no matter what - they are there to educate children."

She quoted the serious case review, which said: "Jacob talked to his friend of his idea of buying a school uniform and walking into a school 'to just feel like others' of his age."

"We have a tsunami in this country of children being thrown out of school and not having access to being able to just feel like the others," Ms Brighouse said.

The case review, released in January, said Jacob was targeted by so-called "county lines" gangs from July 2017 until his death in April 2019.

He was rejected from four schools due to his "perceived behaviours", which left him "highly vulnerable" to being criminally exploited, the report said.

Such cases can be escalated by councils to the Department for Education or secretary of state to ensure schooling is provided, but in the teenager's case a referral was not made "as it should have been".

Lara Patel, deputy director of children services at the council, said a new "youth justice and exploitation" service had been set up as part of changes following Jacob's case.

Hayley Good, deputy director for education, said the council had a system in place to "push back and challenge" if a school rejects a young person.

Councillor Nick Carter questioned whether the council could say "hand on heart" it had learned any lessons from the Bullfinch scandal, a case which exposed widespread sexual exploitation of children in Oxfordshire.

Hannah Farncombe, safeguarding manager at the council, said "understanding that dual status of children as both victims and also potential offenders" was "very complex".

"This is tough stuff, nobody has cracked this nationally," she added.

The Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board has called for a national strategy to tackle exploitation.

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