Making victims, making offenders: County lines, modern slavery and the criminal law

‘County lines’ drug supply has grown into a powerful cultural, criminological and political concern in the UK. In recent years, the criminal law has been mobilised, through the use of anti-trafficking and modern slavery legislation, to increase punishments for those found responsible for the exploitation of children. In this paper, I use insights from actor-network theory (ANT) to explore the first test case in which judges authorised this strategic repurposing of legislation. By opening up the ‘black box’ of legal thinking, my aim is to both scrutinise the technical forms of practice that make up criminal lawmaking and to situate such practices within a broader cultural apparatus of blame.