A COUNCIL chief has called on members of the public to be the authorities' eyes and ears to ensure vulnerable children are kept safe.

It follows the case of a 17-year-old Swindon boy who was kidnapped by an armed gang over a cannabis drug debt.

The gang played a game of Russian roulette with the teen drug dealer, who a court was told genuinely thought he would die. On Thursday, the five-strong kidnap gang were sentenced to a total of 47 years in prison.

Following the sentencing, Mary Martin, Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet member for children, said: “This is a very tragic case that highlights just how important it is to ensure vulnerable youngsters are looked after.

“Our child exploitation team, OPAL and the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub work in partnership with a number of agencies to monitor the welfare of children who may be at risk of exploitation.

“OPAL is the multi-disciplinary team made up of partners from Children’s Social Care, the police, Youth Engagement and Education Welfare Services who work together to protect and safeguard children and young people who are identified as being at risk of, or involved in, child exploitation, as well as to disrupt perpetrators and bring them to justice.

“We aim to provide a safeguarding service that is rapid and effective, that identifies and acts on concerns as soon as they become apparent. For this, we also need members of the public to be our eyes and ears.

“Our ‘Report in, don’t ignore it’ campaign aims to encourage people to report instances and suspicions of child abuse in the hope that action can be taken as soon as possible.

“Your report could be the one that makes the difference for a child.

“If anybody thinks a child is in imminent danger, we advise calling the emergency services on 999. For more, log on to the MASH website: www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20043/child_protection/43/contact_social_services."