INVESTIGATION: On the line - Mike

调查:前线上的麦克

The Story

2026-03-24

34 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Mike started selling drugs for a county lines gang when he was just a teenager. After being arrested and getting stabbed, he left that life behind. But he's been willing to share his experiences with The Times’ crime editor David Woode for the first time, explaining how he got caught 'under a spell'.   This is episode four of a five-part special investigation into county lines drug dealing, running in audio, video, print and digital from The Times and The Sunday Times. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory Host: David Woode Producers: Kate Lamble and Taryn Siegel.  With thanks to the St Giles Trust We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com Read more: Inside the case of a 15-year-old caught with a machete and pistol Further listening: Why I carried a knife Photo: Getty Images. This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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单集文稿 ...

  • From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story.

  • I'm David Wood.

  • I'm the crime editor at the Times.

  • One night last year, I arrived back at my station in South London in the early hours of the morning.

  • I went to collect a train ticket, and as I stood at the machine, I noticed a couple of kids.

  • They couldn't have been older than 13.

  • On their own, in the middle of the night,

  • a rucksack on their back and an ancient phone in one of their hands.

  • I watched as they waited.

  • People streamed past and paid them no attention.

  • But I recognised the signs.

  • As a crime reporter, I spent hours sitting on press benches in courts all around the country.

  • And I 've seen these kids, or kids like them,

  • in the dock, looking bored as their barristers explain how they got

  • wrapped up in selling Class A drugs for county lines gangs.

  • Now, we've been talking about county lines all week.

  • Focusing on how the police had been fighting back against drug organisations in York.

  • But that moment in the station made me want to hear directly

  • from the children actually involved in County Lines.

  • And then I met Mike.