‘Sadistic gangs of boys share extreme material online that normalises violence'
'Sadistic' online gangs dominated by teenage boys are committing harrowing crimes, including child abuse and sharing extreme material, that desensitises them to brutal violence, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned.
Reports relating to the so-called 'com networks' increased six times in the UK between 2022 and 2024, involving thousands of users and victims.
Some members have already been convicted of crimes in the UK and other investigations are ongoing.
The NCA's annual National Strategic Assessment, published on Tuesday, described the groups as networks on social media or messaging platforms that 'routinely share harmful content and extremist or misogynistic rhetoric'.
It said: 'Extreme and illicit imagery depicting violence, gore and child sexual abuse material is frequently shared amongst users, normalising and desensitising participants to increasingly extreme content and behaviours.
''Com' networks use extreme coercion to manipulate their victims, who are often children, into harming or abusing themselves, their siblings or pets, and re-victimising them by doxing or appropriation by other offenders.
'Members of 'Com' networks are usually young men who are motivated by status, power, control, misogyny, sexual gratification or an obsession with extreme or violent material.
'The emergence of these types of online platforms are almost certainly causing some individuals, especially younger people, to develop a dangerous propensity for extreme violence.'
Director general of the NCA Graeme Biggar said: 'This is a hugely complex and deeply concerning phenomenon.
'Young people are being drawn into these sadistic and violent online gangs where they are collaborating at scale to inflict, or incite others to commit, serious harm.
'These groups are not lurking on the dark web, they exist in the same online world and platforms young people use on a daily basis.
'It is especially concerning to see the impact this is having on young girls who are often groomed into hurting themselves and in some cases, even encouraged to attempt suicide.'
Members of the online networks often want to gain notoriety by inflicting the most harm on their victims or sharing the most disturbing content, while others are paedophiles who sell material to other sex offenders.
Mr Biggar urged parents and carers to speak to children about what they are doing online.
The NCA said some victims may not realise a crime has been committed against them because they have been groomed.
Assistant chief constable Alastair Simpson, national policing lead for child sexual exploitation and abuse, said: 'The growth of Com networks that incite and encourage children and vulnerable adults towards acts of self-harm, suicide and violence is hugely concerning.
'The role of undercover online officers is vital in this space, and my message to anyone who is exploiting children online: remember that there is no space where criminals operate that we cannot go and investigations into these networks have already begun.
'Policing will always play its part, but social media providers have a clear role to play in monitoring and regulating their platforms to root out this abhorrent criminal behaviour and make all online spaces safe for children and adults.
'I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of this type of crime to report it to police, you will be met with empathy and respect, and there are organisations that can support you.'
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, called on the Government and regulator Ofcom to take action over extreme material online.
He said: 'These horrendous groups pose a deeply disturbing and sharply growing risk to children, especially teenage girls who are being sadistically groomed into acts of self-harm and even suicide online.
'Despite being repeatedly warned of the threat posed by these groups, Ofcom has failed to introduce a single targeted measure to tackle disturbing suicide and self-harm offences. This glaring gap in its regulatory regime must be closed.
'The Prime Minister must now take decisive action to ensure the Online Safety Act is fit for purpose in the face of new online risks and the threat posed by the fluid ideologies that are fuelling this troubling wave of extreme violence.'
An Ofcom spokesperson said it had set out several measures that platforms can take to protect users from suicide and self-harm content, and additional protections for children are being finalised next month including measures on algorithms and age checks.
Elsewhere, the assessment found that the UK is falling prey to international criminals involved in serious organised crime.
The biggest non-British threat comes from Chinese criminals, based both in China and the UK, the assessment said.
'Chinese national offenders are linked to cyber, drugs, fraud, illicit finance, modern slavery and human trafficking and organised immigration crime offending that impacts on the UK,' the report found.
It added: 'It is likely that the already high threat from Chinese-speaking money laundering networks in the UK continues to grow.
'As well as moving cash for UK criminals, they help UK-based Chinese nationals to evade Chinese currency controls, which enables them to invest in the UK.'
Iran and Russia also allow certain crimes carried out from within their jurisdictions against the UK, including ransomware groups, which are out of the reach of Western law enforcement.
Some countries use offences including cybercrime, drug trafficking and money laundering to support their own objectives or evade sanctions, the assessment said, including North Korea.
In terms of drugs, the use of ketamine has risen sharply in the UK, according to wastewater analysis by the Home Office comparing January to April 2023 with the same period the following year.
Figures from tests that cover 18% of the population of England showed that while cocaine use rose 7%, ketamine consumption rose 85%, and heroin use dropped 11%.
The number of adults who needed medical treatment after taking ketamine rose by five times from 426 in 2014/15 to 2,211 in 2022/23.
It is cheaper than cocaine but can cause severe health problems including damage referred to as 'ketamine bladder', as well as causing a dissociative state when taken, which could leave the user at risk of physical harm, the NCA said.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
UK crime agency freezes assets of disgraced Sheikh Hasina ally
The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen properties in the United Kingdom owned by Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Bangladesh's former Minister of Land, Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit (I-Unit) can reveal. The move follows legal requests from Bangladesh authorities to take action against assets owned by Chowdhury, a political ally of deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the now-banned Awami League party. Chowdhury is under investigation by Bangladesh authorities for money laundering. Last night, in a statement to the I-Unit, an NCA spokesperson confirmed the freezing order: 'We can confirm that the NCA has secured freezing orders against a number of properties as part of an on-going civil investigation.' The property freeze means, in effect, that the assets cannot be sold by Chowdhury. The action by the police agency, often dubbed 'Britain's FBI', coincided with this week's visit to London by Bangladesh's interim leader, Professor Muhammad Yunus. Last year, Al Jazeera revealed Chowdhury, 56, owns more than 350 properties in the UK. While the full extent of the NCA's action is not yet understood, the I-Unit can disclose that Chowdhury's luxury home in St John's Wood, London, is part of the asset freeze. The home, bought for 11 million pounds ($14.8m), was the scene of secret filming by undercover reporters from Al Jazeera's I-Unit. Reporters met Chowdhury during a long-running investigation into wealth that he had accumulated while he was still a government minister. During the meeting, Chowdhury talked expansively to reporters about his global property portfolio and revealed his taste for expensive suits and designer 'baby croc' leather shoes. He described his close ties to the now deposed Sheikh Hasina, telling Al Jazeera's journalists, 'I am like her son, actually.' 'She knows I have a business here,' he also told them. The I-Unit revealed that Chowdhury, from a powerful family in the port city of Chittagong, amassed a property empire despite a $12,000 annual limit as part of the nation's currency laws on the amount a citizen can take out of Bangladesh. The investigation uncovered that Chowdhury spent more than $500m on real estate in London, Dubai, and New York but did not declare his overseas assets on his Bangladesh tax returns. The undercover meeting was part of the Al Jazeera documentary The Minister's Millions, broadcast last October. Chowdhury had been a close ally of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 after hundreds were killed as security forces cracked down on student protests. After Hasina's departure, Bangladesh authorities launched an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption in her government. Following the uprising and street violence in Bangladesh, the I-Unit tracked down Chowdhury to his London home, where he could be observed taking leisurely walks around his exclusive neighbourhood, which includes Lord's Cricket Ground. In earlier statements to Al Jazeera, Chowdhury said the funds used to buy his overseas properties came from legitimate businesses outside Bangladesh, which he had owned for years. The former minister claimed he was the subject of a politically motivated 'witch-hunt' against him.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Couple charged over alleged Thailand cannabis plot
A British couple have been charged with allegedly trying to smuggle more than 50kg of cannabis from Thailand into the UK. Daniel McDonald, 36, and Sian Warren, 35, from Salford, Greater Manchester, were arrested at Heathrow Airport after arriving from the country on 27 May, the National Crime Agency said. The agency said it found suitcases containing 51kg (112lb) of cannabis. The pair have been charged with drugs importation offences and faced Uxbridge Magistrates court last week. They were remanded in custody and will next appear in Isleworth Crown Court on 26 June. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230. Footballer jailed for £600k drugs smuggling plot National Crime Agency


CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
Families file lawsuit after cheer competition panic at Dallas convention center: "We're in therapy once a week at this point"
Families who attended a national cheerleading competition at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in March have filed a lawsuit following a chaotic evacuation that left several people injured. It happened on March 1 during the 2025 NCA All-Star National Championship, which drew nearly 60,000 attendees to downtown Dallas. A fight broke out between two people, causing several metal poles to topple and create a loud crash that many mistook for gunfire. That noise sparked a wave of panic as thousands fled the building, fearing an active shooter. "It was pure chaos," said Rachel Meyer, who was there with her 9-year-old daughter. "Like what you see in the movies. Everybody just started running, screaming. People were tripping over each other. I got pushed to the ground. I had a broken nose, bruised face and was bleeding from my forehead." Meyer is one of nine plaintiffs named in a lawsuit filed Friday in Dallas County. The suit alleges that the defendants, including Varsity Spirit, the organizer of the event, and venue operators like the Omni Hotel, among others, failed to provide a safe and secure environment. It also claims there was no crowd control strategy in place and no formal lockdown or reunification plan. "There was a massive crowd crush," said attorney Ashlea Schwarz, who is representing the families. "The police treated it like there was no active shooter, so it must not be a big deal, but that's not how the families felt." According to the suit, hundreds of attendees suffered physical and mental injuries. Schwarz said injuries include broken bones and concussions. One woman, she said, was admitted to the ICU with two brain bleeds. Meyer said she and her daughter are still recovering emotionally from the incident. "We're in therapy once a week at this point," she said. The families are seeking more than $1 million in damages. Attorneys say this is likely just the beginning, as more than 600 people have contacted their firm since the incident. They are now representing several hundred families individually. CBS News Texas reached out to several of the defendants for comment but has not yet received a response.