Glasgow drug dealer jailed for exploiting 14-year-old schoolboy to sell crack cocaine

Matteullah Siddiqi, 20, was sentenced to six years and nine months for recruiting a teenager into drug dealing in one of Scotland's first such convictions.

Glasgow dealer sentenced for grooming schoolboy into drug trade

A Glasgow drug dealer has been jailed for six years and nine months after exploiting a 14-year-old boy into selling crack cocaine and heroin on his behalf, in what is considered one of the first convictions of its kind in Scotland, Google News UK — Crime (en) reports.

Matteullah Siddiqi, 20, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after admitting to recruiting the teenager — whom he first encountered at the St Enoch Centre games arcade during the school summer holidays of 2025 — and drawing him into a criminal operation spanning Glasgow and the surrounding area.

Siddiqi initially approached the boy by asking whether he "wanted to start making money". The teenager declined, suspecting the offer involved drugs, but Siddiqi eventually persuaded him by suggesting the money could help his mother. The boy was given Siddiqi's Instagram account and later a mobile phone.

Lying to his mother that he had a "summer holiday camp" to attend, the boy was transported in mid-July to a known drug den in Glasgow. He stayed there for several days and was instructed how to "bag up" crack cocaine.

Prosecutor Jennifer Nicholson-White told the court that Siddiqi visited the flat for only a couple of hours each day owing to an electronic tag he was wearing, and gave the boy £20 to buy food.

The teenager was subsequently taken by taxi to a run-down property in Paisley, Renfrewshire, where he was directed to distribute "testers" — small cocaine samples — to local addicts. He stayed for the remainder of that week. Nicholson-White said the boy handed out approximately 60 testers and was given contact numbers for drug users. She added: "He estimated Siddiqi made about £700 each day in sales."

The boy returned home around 21 July. His mother found him smelling as though he had not washed in days. He nonetheless continued working for Siddiqi, dividing his time between the Paisley flat and the family home.

Following the summer break, Siddiqi directed the teenager to travel to Ayr to distribute further samples to addicts. By September, his school attendance had collapsed — he missed 11 consecutive school days. Teachers raised concerns and contacted his mother.

At a meeting, the boy initially claimed he had been playing football alone in a park, but train tickets to Ayr were found on his phone. He then asked for his mother to leave the room and confessed he had been delivering "heavy drugs" provided by a 19-year-old male at a flat in Glasgow's east end. His mother was described in court as "distraught".

The boy was subsequently referred to the Home Office National Referral Mechanism, the framework designed to support victims of modern slavery. Authorities concluded he had been a "victim of exploitation".

Siddiqi was arrested in Glasgow's Castlemilk area on 19 September, where officers observed him clutching two phones and acting nervously. He attempted to flee but was apprehended. During a struggle, one constable sustained shoulder ligament damage. Nearly £3,000 worth of heroin fell from Siddiqi's jacket in the altercation.

Siddiqi also admitted in court to being concerned in the supply of both heroin and cocaine, as well as the aggravated assault of the police officer. A not guilty plea to a separate charge of exploiting another teenage boy was accepted by prosecutors.

Addressing Siddiqi at sentencing, Lord Scott said the victim had described the experience as "mentally traumatic and distressing for his family". In a statement read to the court, the boy said: "I feel betrayed by an adult who I trusted, but who lured me into trouble."

Lord Scott told Siddiqi directly: "What you did has damaged his confidence and his ability to trust and feel free." He noted that Siddiqi had demonstrated "limited victim empathy", adding: "You focus on yourself as a victim rather than the child you recruited."

The judge's remarks referenced the fact that Siddiqi himself had been assessed in 2023 as a victim of child trafficking and exploitation in connection with drug supply. His defence counsel, Callum Hiller, acknowledged that his client had "progressed to becoming the offender", and said Siddiqi had expressed remorse. "He was the victim of child exploitation and trafficking — one of the offences he finds himself now the perpetrator of," Hiller said.

Siddiqi will be subject to licence conditions for two years following his release.

A number of offenders have previously been convicted under Scotland's Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act, but this case is understood to be among the first in which a child was specifically exploited to deal class A drugs for financial gain.

Detective Inspector Holly Swindells said the conviction should serve as a warning that crimes of exploitation "will not be tolerated", and urged anyone with information about similar offences to contact Police Scotland. The case also featured in a BBC Disclosure documentary, Welcome to Glasgow, broadcast earlier this month.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)