A major conference has been held in Huddersfield about a sinister trend which exploits vulnerable victims yet isn’t classed as a crime.

Cuckooing is a form of exploitation in which criminals move themselves or associates into a vulnerable victim’s home and then exploits and puts them in harm’s way around organised crime and drug trafficking.

According to the Centre for Social Justice which supports people living in the poorest and most disadvantaged communities in the UK: “In March 2024 during just one week of intensive police action 1,284 cuckooed addresses were visited which gives an indication of the scale of the problem. Entire neighbourhoods and communities are affected and live in fear of the criminals who act with impunity.

“But despite its prevalence, no-one really knows how many victims of cuckooing there are as there has been no systematic approach to recording it.”

Victims of cuckooing include people with drug or alcohol addictions, those struggling financially, the elderly, people with mental health issues and those with learning disabilities.

The perpetrators are often involved in county lines drug distribution and resort to cuckooing to avoid police detection by setting up a crime nest in someone else’s home.

Cuckooing is not yet classified as a crime in law – although there are moves to do so – and the University of Huddersfield recently held a conference with 200 people from law enforcement, the criminal justice system, local government and the NHS to discuss and talk about the best practice to tackle the issue.

Det Insp Adam Norton, North West co-ordinator of the National County Lines Coordination Centre which tackles drug dealing, said: “Events such as this are crucially important. Cuckooing is a complex area of vulnerability and exploitation.

“The University of Huddersfield’s event provided a valuable platform for sharing good practice and highlighting the importance of an evidence-based safeguarding response. This collaboration of experienced practitioners, subject matter experts and experienced academics is an excellent template for driving progress in this area.”

The event was led by Dr John Synnott, director of the Police Doctoral Program (PDP) at the university and Ruth Lewin from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit who is doing a PhD there.

Dr Synnott said: “The PDP offers a first of its kind home to senior serving police officers and staff to study doctoral level research. Within this programme we support the candidates to promote their research through knowledge exchange events such as this cuckooing event, led by Ruth who is developing important research into the nature and scale of cuckooing nationally.”

Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content and copywriting.