Com Groups Offences
Half-day online bespoke workshop for professionals working with or representing children in the criminal legal system.
Wednesday 30th September 2026 2pm-4.30pm
Cost: £120 | £60 YJLC Members
The National Crime Agency (NCA) with the National Police Chief Council (NPCC) and Counter Terrorism Policing have issued an Early Threat Identification Notice for Safeguarding Profesisonals regarding Com groups. Com Groups are online networks, often made up of teenage boys, who may compete with each other for status or notoriety by engaging in serious, high-harm offences such as child sexual abuse, serious violence, cybercrime, extremism, and coercing self-harm or suicide.
It is claimed that as of May 2026, the NCA is investigating around 200 cases involving these violent online gangs, the majority of which involve teenage boys targeting young girls
All YJLC Members need to understand the implications in relation to this type of offending and what it can mean for the children they work with.
In this interactive workshop you will learn:
- To develop your understanding of Com Groups offences and platforms
- How to identify Com Groups involvement (including online network concerns, cut and blood signs)
- How police are handling Com Groups allegations
- Consideration of Safeguarding responsibilities for al children involved
- What kind of offences are being alleged
- Ways to identify children who are victims of Com Groups
- Complexity in relation to perpetrator / victim narrative
- How to manage these children within in your service
- How other youth justice professionals have dealt with these emerging issues in their areas
About the facilitator - Shauneen Lambe
Shauneen Lambe is an internationally recognised lawyer, qualified as both a barrister in the UK and an attorney in the USA. She began her career at the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, representing clients facing the death penalty — including those accused of offences committed as children. A founding leader in youth justice reform, Shauneen is an Ashoka Fellow, an Eisenhower Fellow, and co-author of Youth Justice Law and Practice (the leading LAG textbook for lawyers).